Anatoly Malykhin’s coach says heavyweight king’s objective remains unchanged: “Different date, same goal”

Anatoly Malykhin and Arjan Bhullar will finally collide at ONE Friday Fights 22, which emanates from the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on June 23.

After spending nearly two years trying to seal a match against the heavyweight king, the Russian tank couldn’t be happier that his title unification bout will materialize next month.

In an exclusive interview with Anatoly Malykhin’s coach, John Hutchinson, the boxing specialist said his star pupil’s goal remains unchanged – whatever the date or day may be. He told SCMP MMA:

“Different date, same goal.”

The athlete known as ‘Sladkiy’ made his intentions known from his promotional bow, securing a first-round finish over Alexandre Machado in early 2021.

In his sophomore outing, the 35-year-old cruised past another heavyweight favorite, Amir Aliakbari, putting the Iranian behemoth to sleep just three seconds shy of the three-minute mark.

Following that win, Anatoly Malykhin took to social media to call out ‘Singh’. However, lengthy contract negotiations and an injury effectively sidetracked Arjan Bhullar from defending his crown.

With Bhullar’s return uncertain, ONE offered ‘Sladkiy’ a chance to contest for the interim heavyweight world title against Kirill Grishenko at ONE: Bad Blood in February last year. That evening, the Russian superstar gained his 11th straight finish when he knocked out Grishenko at 3:42 of the second round.

In the aftermath of that, talks for a unification bout were immediately in the works, but once again, there were plenty of stumbles to get ‘Singh’ back into action.

As a result, Malykhin dropped a division to challenge for Reinier de Ridder’s light heavyweight gold. And he made the most of his opportunity, handing the Dutchman his first career loss.

Then, a shift in broadcaster commitments led to the bout’s removal from the ONE Fight Night 8 card this past March. And a similar plot took place when the pair were slated to meet at ONE Fight Night 12.

But now, after years of waiting, the pair will finally unify their divisional straps at ONE Friday Fights 22 on June 23.