by Francisco Salazar |
Sergey Lipinets overcame hard moments against Robbie Davies Jr. and achieved a much-needed victory.
Lipinets won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Davies on Wednesday night at the Whitesands (aka ProBox TV) Events Center in Plant City, Florida. The scores were 96-91, 95-92 and 98-89 for Lipinets, who improved to 18-3-1, 13 by knockout.
The Lipinets-Davies fight was a crossroads fight where the winner will have the opportunity to face other challengers in the talented 140-pound division. What happened on Wednesday was one of the best fights of 2024.
Lipinets dominated the first two rounds, using an effective jab, lead and counter left hook to Davies’ head, taking Davies down. The number of punches thrown led to Davies’ nose bleeding at the end of the second round.
Behind schedule in the third round, Davies landed a left hook to the head, stunning Lipinets. Davies followed the attack but was unable to capitalize on it. With about 30 seconds remaining in the fourth round, Lipinets was again hurt by another left hook to the head. Davies tried to keep up again, but Lipinets persevered through the round.
Lipinets bled, possibly breaking Davies’ nose early in the fifth round. Moments later, a right hand followed by a right cross sent Davies to the canvas. Davies was able to defeat the count and bravely continued to fight.
After Lipinets was the more effective fighter in rounds six and seven, Lipinets dropped Davies with a body punch early in round eight. Moments later, a right-left combination dropped Davies to the canvas for the second time this round. Just when it seemed like Lipinets was going to end things this round, Davies delivered a counter punch to Lipinets’ head, leaving him stunned. Lipinets was able to survive a series of blows.
Davies was effective in spots during the final two rounds of the fight, but Lipinets was the more effective fighter, outscoring and outscoring Davies for most of the exchanges.
Lipinets, who is originally from Martuk, Kazakhstan, and now lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, California, lost a near unanimous decision to Michel Rivera in his previous fight on November 25. In August 2022, Lipinets stopped former lightweight world champion Omar Figueroa in a one-sided fight.
The 35-year-old won the vacant IBF junior welterweight world title in November 2017, defeating Akihiro Kondo of Japan by unanimous decision. Lipinets lost the title more than four months later, dropping a decision to then-undefeated Mikey Garcia.
Liverpool-based Davies drops to 23-5, 15 KOs. Davies, 34, suffered defeat in his previous fight, losing by knockout to Darragh Foley on March 23 last year. Davies was eliminated in the second round and again in the third round, resulting in an ankle injury that prevented him from continuing.
In the heavyweight co-main event, Fernely Feliz defeated Cesar Navarro by unanimous decision. The scores were 79-73, 79-73 and 78-74 for Feliz, who improved to 8-0, 6 KOs.
Feliz, an outstanding amateur based in Danbury, Conn., was the more effective fighter from the opening bell, landing powerful punches that knocked Navarro’s head back several times. Navarro didn’t look visibly hurt after the number of punches he received in the first two rounds of the fight. During the third round, Feliz was backed into the corner, where Navarro landed a right hand below the waist, dropping Feliz to one knee. Feliz had time to recover from the low blow.
Navarro was still alive during the fight, despite being punched repeatedly. Behind schedule in the fourth round, a counterattack left to the head caught Feliz’s attention. Feliz gained momentum in round five, connecting with a flurry of punches that culminated in a left hook that momentarily stunned Navarro. Feliz was able to survive the attack and get out of the round.
At the end of round five, Feliz threw and landed a series of punches that pushed Navarro to the ropes. Just before the bell sounded, Navarro threw and landed a right hand that snapped Feliz’s head back.
Sensing he was at the top of the scoreboard, Feliz fought from a distance in the southpaw position during the final round. After being hit low again and needing time to recover, Feliz continued to fight from distance, but Navarro again hit Feliz with another left hook to the head. Feliz suffered no observable injuries from the blow.
Navarro, who lives in Agua Prieta, Mexico, is 11-2 with nine KOs.
Lightweight prospect Tsendbaatar Erdenebat improved to 10-0, 5 KOs, earning a third-round knockout victory over Alberto Mercado of Puerto Rico.
In the southpaw clash, Erdenebat began to be the aggressor in round two, closing the distance and throwing two- and three-punch combinations at Mercado’s head. To his credit, Mercado was standing in the pocket, looking to hit Erdenebat in the head.
At the beginning of the third round, Erdenebat began to land more consistently. Midway through the round, a barrage of punches stunned Mercado. Moments later, the blow opened a wound on Mercado’s eyelid, causing blood to flow out. Referee Michael DeJesus called the ringside doctor to look at the wound, which appeared too stern for Mercado to continue, prompting DeJesus to stop the fight at 2:39.
The 27-year-old, who currently lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Paramount, represented Mongolia at the 2016 and 2021 Olympics. Erdenebat is promoted by Lou DiBella.
Mercado, who lives in Humacao, Puerto Rico, has a record of 17-7-1, 4 KOs. The 37-year-old has lost five of his last six fights.
In a clash of undefeated junior lightweights, Robert Meriwether III of Las Vegas defeated Mexican Victor Lopez Gala (5-1, 3 KO) by decision in six one-sided rounds. All three judges scored the fight 60-54 in favor of Meriwether, who improved to 6-0, 2 KO. Meriwether dominated, losing to Lopez for most of the fight.
In the opening fight of the ProBox TV card, welterweight Terrence Williams from nearby Modern Port Richey scored a knockout against Argentine Jonathan Sosa (7-17-2, 4 KO). Williams landed a double left hook to the head, dropping him to the canvas, prompting referee Michael DeJesus to immediately stop the fight at 1:09.
Williams improved to 6-0, 5 KOs.
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