FULL INTERVIEW: Andrei Mikhailovich - Kiwi Boxer

On Friday, Stace and Charlie caught up with Kiwi boxer Andrei Mikhailovich before he heads over to Vegas for his Unified World Middleweight Championship bout next Sunday NZT. He will be taking on unbeaten Kazakh fighter Zhanibek Alimkhanuly. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's the Flavor Podcast Network, The Flavor Breakfast Podcast with Stace, Azarah.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
And Charlie in Las Vegas. Next Sunday, New Zealand. Time
for the Unified World Middleweight Championship. He is right here
and he's gonna take it.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
We know that.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Please welcome to the studio. Andre Mcalovich.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Yeah, thank you for having me. I really appreciate the
time and that if you put on.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
No, it's actually quite easy because you're like really easy
to follow and go. This is a great story. This
is you, this is your big moment. How are you
feeling heading into it?

Speaker 3 (00:31):
I feel like a million bucks man. I feel like
a goat that just woke come and decided to be
the goat. So good by another love man like this,
this is another day in paradise. I think you know,
when I got off with this fight, like what twelve
weeks ago, I was like, yeah, this was always going
to happen. It was an expectation of mine. And then
when you expect something going to happen, you're not surprised
by it. And I know who I am, I know
where I'm from, and I know where I'm going, and

(00:52):
I know where I'm gonna end up so so good.

Speaker 4 (00:54):
It's just my life.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
So tell us where we're going to end up.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
Oh, well, like that's in like four or five years.
I'll be like a unified to the weight division world champion.
But when next weekend they'll be I have two of
the Infinity zones and I got to get four.

Speaker 5 (01:08):
I love this man, I love I love the confidence
that this guy off the bat. As soon as he
walked in, he goes to me, I love your foot.
I'm like, bro, this guy is the world CHAMPI I just.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Wanted to pass on them.

Speaker 5 (01:20):
Honestly, you know, I got this thing. I see people
and I know they're going to go places. It's like
like a talent finder. I know the energy you feel,
the like an Internet. It's I was like, Bro, this
guy's gonna win it, trust me. So like, we are
happy to have you here because.

Speaker 3 (01:36):
I'm the same I do you have like a I'm
going to say bullshit? Do you have a bullshit rader?
You can sense like when someone really recognized real bro, Yeah,
thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
I just think you guys bro out. But in the meantime,
we would like to talk about who you are.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
That actually means a lot to me. I appreciate that.
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Oh, I mean we are here for you. We'll be
we'll be watching you and celebrating. So your fighter that
you're up against, say Jenny Beck.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
Don't say his last name because I have been looking
at the name for like twelve weeks now and I
don't know how to say it.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
It doesn't matter. But what do we know about him? Like,
what do you know you need to do hitting into
this fight?

Speaker 4 (02:15):
Just be me.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
I'm Andrew mckailovitch, you know, so it's been me. But
also have an understanding. So sensationalization of an event is
what cooks fighters, and that the overthinking or the over
like the oversaturation of an event will like as to
your demise and it's detrimental to you. So what you
do is you break it down piece press piece. If
you're gonna eat an elephant, you don't eat the whole
elephant elephant.

Speaker 4 (02:36):
You look at the little toe and you build your
build your way out. So it's the same thing. He's
he's a man with.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
Two arms, two legs. We're going to be in a ring.
It's gonna be arrest, it's gonna be some judges, and
there's gonna be a few people. You've got to take
into account that, Yeah, there might be a little bit
more coverage on this fight than other ones because it's
a slightly bigger deal. But it's all about compartmentalization. When
I'm training, I think about it. When I go home,
I'm not thinking about it. And if I don't think
of it, Like do you think when it's ten o'clock
at night and there's no one home, I'm thinking about it.

Speaker 4 (03:01):
No, I'm looking at YouTube and how to build boats.

Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, being an engineer on the side, that's how you roll.
So that kind of approach to fighting, is it something
that's come naturally to you or you head to learn it.

Speaker 3 (03:14):
I think I'm a born colo. I'm adopted from Russia, right,
So your first eighteen months of a child's life is
detrimental to who they are and how they turn out
on that. So intimacy in terms of empathy and all
that kind of stuff, two things are lack huge. I'm
not empathetic. I'm very selfish. I love my kids, but
I'm also very selfish. I always put myself first. Russian
having that blood in me comes that flows from my DNA,

(03:35):
that's huge. So the Eastern bloc of Europe is like
pretty tough. It's a cold, hard place and I've got
thousands of years of DNA and history through there, so
I'm a born fighter. But I also grew up with
a twin, a Russian twin. So if you ever Russian
twin in the same house growing up dangerous, that's not
like having a little sister. You got a nurture and
look after, that's someone you're going to try and bash.

(03:56):
And he's bashed me multiple times. I'm proud of that.
A strong tough dude, and I bested him. And you know,
we've had We've had cops come around to our house
like times that yeah, straight up, just because my mom
and dad would just stop trying to break us up.

Speaker 4 (04:11):
They got too violent.

Speaker 5 (04:12):
Man.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
We all like, actually, I've had a knife in my
back from that.

Speaker 2 (04:16):
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
I stand punch Thry like a glass door and rip
his whole arm up trying to get to me.

Speaker 4 (04:19):
So it's just, yeah, that's just experience.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
That's it, twin love, and that's I mean, what is
New Zealand though offered you in terms of your fighting skills?

Speaker 3 (04:29):
Well, New Zealand is a like home has offered me
sanctuary and security as a as a young man coming
up and being on with Storkland. It's fantastic.

Speaker 4 (04:36):
It's my home.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
New Zealand also offered me pitch boxing. You know when
I meant Isaac, he really turned me in from the
from the mouth to the boys of the man, so
it's fantastic. He really, Isaac is more than does a
trainer and it sounds very keay say to see that,
but he's everything to me. If I'm the man, he's
Bruce Lee of his customer toy on Mike Tyson, so nice.

Speaker 5 (04:55):
I'm looking forward to this man. Go well, brother and
bring home those belts. Man, we'll champ.

Speaker 4 (05:00):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
Thanks for listening to the Flavor Breakfast podcast. Catch a
new app here tomorrow, or listen live every weekday from
six