Kiwi boxer cops brutal karma after 'disgusting' pre-fight act
A shocking moment of disrespect from New Zealand boxer Alex Hanan came back to bite him in a big way during a brutal loss to compatriot Andrei Mikhailovich.
Fighting on the undercard of Justis Huni's 10th round TKO victory against Paul Gallen, there was plenty of bad blood going into the fight between the two Kiwi rivals, Hanan and Mikhailovich.
WOW: Startling footage emerges before Justus Huni-Paul Gallen fight
'WHAT THE HELL': Ref slammed over 'atrocious' snapped arm call
At Tuesday's weigh-in, Hanan gestured towards Mikhailovich with his fingers pointed like a gun in a savage parting shot for his countryman.
Things turned even uglier before the two fighters faced off in the ring, with the referee forced to warn Hanan about being disqualified after an ugly incident.
GUT PUNCH 😳 You definitely CAN'T do that, Alex Hanan 🙅♂️
One of the spiciest undercard bouts we've seen got off to a ridiculous start. It ended much, much differently.
📝 'Bad blood': https://t.co/7vDs6OlwO6
📺 Watch #GallenHuni now on Main Event 👉 https://t.co/MnTn8DOl4H pic.twitter.com/uSXsC73HGv— MAIN EVENT (@MainEventTV) June 16, 2021
Just after the referee had told the fighters to touch gloves, Hanan quickly threw a punch that hit Mikhailovich in the stomach.
Mikhailovich looked genuinely aggrieved but to his credit walked away as the referee warned Hanan not to do it again or he'd be disqualified.
Hanan's unsavoury act was branded "disgusting" by viewers, with many hoping to see him destroyed in the ring by his fellow Kiwi.
Hanan just punched Mikhailovich in the gut instead of touching gloves at center ring during referees instructions
— Tim Boxeo (@TimBoxeo) June 16, 2021
God I hope Mikhailovic knocks out Hanan after that gut punch #GallenHuni
— Gene Irvine (@geneirvine12) June 16, 2021
Disgusting move from Alex Hanan. Hope he’s decked.#GallenHuni
— Zachary Gates (@_zacharygates) June 16, 2021
Karma comes back to bite Hanan
When the fight did get underway Hanan was again warned by the referee, this time for some low shots on his opponent in the first round.
However, Mikhailovich soon gained his revenge in the second round after a savage left hook staggered Hanan, before another brutal shot knocked him to the canvas.
Mikhailovich then went in for the kill after Hanan survived the count, landing a flurry of follow-up punches to put Hanan down again, as the referee moved in to stop the fight.
The win saw Mikhailovich take his record to 16-0 with nine knockouts, and he admitted afterwards that Hanan's gun gesture towards him at the weigh-in was ample motivation for the performance.
“You can mock me or anything boxing related, but as soon as you start pointing guns or any shit like that, that takes it out of the realms of boxing and when you do that, it’s offensive,” he told reporters from Sydney's ICC Aware Super Theatre.
“So I took it to heart a little bit.
“The left-hook from hell came tonight.”
Mikhailovich showed his class after the victory by seeking out and embracing his beaten opponent, before insisting that the bad blood was a thing of the past.
“Fights take the bad blood out of s*** but Alex and I, we’re all sweet now, we’ll be friends for life now,” he said.
“Whenever you share a fight someone there’s always that respect afterwards so that’s all there is to it.”
Watch 'Mind Games', the new series from Yahoo Sport Australia exploring the often brutal mental toil elite athletes go through in pursuit of greatness:
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.