Igor Gennadyevich Mikhalkin (; born 31 May 1985) is a Russian

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...

. He held the IBO

light-heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

title from 2017 to 2018 and challenged once for the

WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

light-heavyweight title in 2018. At regional level, he held the

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

light-heavyweight title between 2014 and 2016.

Professional career

Mikhalkin made his professional debut in November 2007. On his 12th professional contest, he suffered a loss to

Aleksy Kuziemski Aleksy Kuziemski (born 9 May 1977) is a Polish professional boxer and light heavyweight world title challenger. Amateur career As an amateur, Kuziemski for Astoria Bydgoszcz won a bronze medal at the 2003 World Amateur Boxing Championships in t ...

. In April 2014, Mikhalkin defeated Mohamed Belkacem by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

to claim the

light-heavyweight title. He made three successful defenses of that title, with the last coming against Patrick Bois in March 2016. During his tenure as European champion, Mikhalkin was highly ranked by the IBF. Prior to his continental title defense against Bois, Mikhalkin tested positive and admitted to taking

meldonium Meldonium (International Nonproprietary Name, INN; trade name Mildronate, among others) is a pharmaceutical developed in 1970 by Ivars Kalviņš at the USSR Latvia Institute of Organic Synthesis. It is now manufactured by the Latvian pharma ...

, a substance banned by WADA and was stripped by the

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

. He was also banned for two years by the EBU. The suspension was lifted in November of that same year.

Mikhalkin vs. Oosthuizen

In May 2017, Mikhalkin defeated

Thomas Oosthuizen Thomas Oosthuizen ( ; born 2 April 1988) is a South African professional boxer. He is a former IBO world champion in two weight classes, having held the super-middleweight title from 2011 to 2014, and the light-heavyweight title in 2015. Profe ...

to claim the IBO light-heavyweight title.

Mikhalkin vs. Kovalev

On March 3, 2018, Mikhalkin challenged WBO light heavyweight champion

Sergey Kovalev Sergey Alexandrovich Kovalev (Kovalyov) (; born 2 April 1983) is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2025. He held multiple light-heavyweight world championships, including the WBA (Undisputed) and IBF titles from 2014 ...

for his belt. Kovalev defeated Mikhalkin in the seventh round via TKO.

Mikhalkin vs. Bauderlique

On September 10, 2021, Mikhalkin fought

Mathieu Bauderlique Mathieu Albert Daniel Bauderlique (born 3 July 1989) is a French former professional boxer. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the light heavyweight division at the 2016 Summer Olympics. Bauderlique was born in Henin-Beaumont, Pas-de-Calais ...

, ranked #5 by the WBC, #9 by the IBF, #10 by the WBA and #12 by the WBA at light heavyweight. Mikhalkin lost the bout after retiring at the end of the seventh round.

Professional boxing record

References

External links

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Igor Mikhalkin - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mikhalkin, Igor 1985 births Russian male boxers Living people Light-heavyweight boxers Sportspeople from Irkutsk Russian sportspeople in doping cases 21st-century Russian sportsmen