Boxer Andrei Mikhailovich Gets Punched In The Stomach By His Rival Before The Bell

The boxing bout between New Zealand duo Andrei Mikhailovich and Alex Hanan got off to one of the craziest starts we've seen in a long time.

In fact, the fight hadn't even started and the fellow compatriots were already swinging.

Before the opening bell rang, Hanan punched his opponent in the gut after the referee asked them to touch gloves following an intense face-off.

The below-the-belt cheap shot was totally uncalled for, but Mikhailovich did well to keep his composure and not react.

The same couldn't be said for boxing fans watching from home who were completely outrage by what they'd just witnessed.

One bloke tweeted: "Disgusting move from Alex Hanan. Hope he's decked."

While another added: "God I hope Mikhailovic knocks out Hanan after that gut punch.

But it was Mikhailovich who ended up getting the last laugh.

Speaking after his boxing masterclass, Mikhailovich showed superb sportsmanship by burying the hatchet with his fellow countryman.

"Fights take the bad blood out of s**t but Alex and I, we're all sweet now, we'll be friends for life now," he said during his post-fight interview.

"Whenever you share a fight someone there's always that respect afterwards so that's all there is to it."

Classy stuff.

The respect between the two was certainly on show after the bout's conclusion, but that definitely wasn't the case during the build-up.

Mikhailovich and Hanan first locked horns in a fiery press conference a few weeks back, where Mikhailovich hilariously told his rival "you're a child. I am your dad. I have two kids already but you are my foster son. Call me daddy Drei and you can be baby Ali".

And the tension and bad blood between the pair intensified at the weigh-ins when Hanan pointed a gun symbol at his opponent.

When asked if the gesture inspired him to victory, Mikhailovich simply said: Yeah, it did actually.

"You can mock me or anything boxing related, but as soon as you start pointing guns or any s**t like that, that takes it out of the realms of boxing and when you do that, it's offensive.

"So I took it to heart a little bit.

"The left-hook from hell came tonight."