Boxing
Sergey Lipinets survives war with Robbie Davies Jr. and wins a unanimous decision in Florida
Published
8 months agoon
By
J. HumzaSergey 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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Boxing
Ryan Rozicki is waiting for Badou Jack’s consent to mandatory cooperation with the WBC
Published
5 days agoon
January 13, 2025The World Boxing Council (WBC) ordered world cruiserweight champion Badou “The Ripper” Jack (20-1-1, 19 KO) to make a mandatory title defense against Ryan “The Bruiser” Rozicki (20-1), number 1 in the WBC ranking – 1, 19 KOs).
If both camps fail to successfully negotiate an agreement, the WBC will organize a tender on February 4, followed by the Jack vs. Rozicki. Rozicki’s promoter, Three Lions Promotions, immediately sent Team Jacek an offer to promote the fight in Canada last week.
“We are waiting for their counteroffer,” explained promoter Dan Otter of Three Lions Promotions. “Boxing has had a huge resurgence in Canada and Ryan is leading the way. He is one of the most electrifying and hardest-hitting fighters in boxing, definitely in the cruiserweight division. He wants the WBC green belt and ultimately the unification of the division. Ryan will fight Jack anywhere for the belt.”
29-year-old Rozicki, born in Sydney (Nova Scotia) and living in Hamilton (Ontario), fought 22 professional fights against 21 different opponents (twice against Yamil Alberto Peralta), stopping 19 of the 20 opponents he defeated. an eye-opening 95-KO percentage.
Jack, 41, was a 2008 Olympian representing his native Sweden. He is a three-division world champion, as well as the WBC super middleweight and World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight heavyweight title holder. Jack has a record of 5-0-2 (2 KO) in world championship fights.
“We respect Jack and I don’t want to sound disrespectful,” Otter added, “but he’s over 40 years vintage and has been relatively inactive for two years (only one fight). He brings a lot of experience and respect to the ring, but he will fight a newborn defender with a lot of power. Jack is going to struggle and honestly, I don’t think he’ll make it past the first few rounds.”
Ryan Rozicki is on a mission to become the first Canadian cruiserweight world champion.
The next move is Badou Jack’s.
Boxing
Floyd Mayweather’s record is not normal, it can’t happen in 70 years
Published
6 days agoon
January 12, 2025Floyd Mayweather’s incredible 50-0 record is not normal and cannot be repeated in sports for another seventy years.
This is the view of Saudi Arabian president Turki Alalshikh, who wants to adopt the UFC model in which fighters lose many fights during their career.
In a speech as he hosted the Ring Magazine Awards after acquiring the long-running boxing publication from Oscar De La Hoya, Alalshikh was unequivocal in his opinion.
“Now losing some fights in boxing must be normal,” he explained. “All fighters want a career similar to Floyd Mayweather – no losses. This may happen once every 50, 60 or 70 years.
“We need it [to be] like currently in the UFC model, where champions lose and win,” added the matchmaker during the Riyad season.
Mayweather rose through the sport in the tardy 1990s to become one of its youngest superstars. Mayweather’s professional success came after winning a bronze medal at the Olympics after losing to Serafim Todorov.
Winning world titles in five weight classes, Mayweather was untouchable. The Grand Rapids native only came close to defeat a few times. He dominated Manny Pacquiao and overtook Canelo Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya after heated debates, with decisions that should have been made unanimously.
Towards the end of his career, Mayweather chose to face Andre Berto and Conor McGregor, easily winning and ending his boxing career at the age of 50 without ever going out. Calling himself “the greatest of all time,” Mayweather earned first-ballot Hall of Fame honors and is widely considered one of, if not the greatest defensive fighter of all time.
However, Alalshikh says this type of career needs to end so that fans can get the most out of boxing, as is the case with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Boxing needs to become more attractive, and Alalshikh sees the failures of top stars as a way to keep interest at an all-time high.
In this sport, many boxers enjoy undefeated streaks, the most notable of which is Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian Pound for Pound King is 23-0 and has beaten the best he has to offer in his division and cruiserweight classification.
It remains a mystery how Alalshikh plans to make Usyk suffer while he dominates everyone else. By the time his grand plan goes into action, Usyk will be long gone, and Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney may be more realistic targets.
Boxing
Manny Pacquiao remains the favorite to win the title against Mario Barrios
Published
2 weeks agoon
January 6, 2025WBN understands that despite alternative options emerging, it is more likely that Manny Pacquiao will face Mario Barrios next.
Bob Santos, coach of WBC welterweight champion Barrios, told World Boxing News that he is currently in contact with Pacquiao’s team. Asked by WBN if he had spoken to Pacquiao or representatives of any other challenger, Santos replied: “Yes, Pacquiao’s promoter, Sean Gibbons.” Pressed on whether Barrios vs Pacquiao might happen next, he added: “It’s challenging to say. We’ll have to see how this plays out.”
WBN contacted Santos after Conor Benn emerged as a potential alternative to Barrios. The British fighter, who recently returned from a suspension following two positive drug tests, is keen to return to competition.
Benn showed favor with the World Boxing Council at the recent WBC Convention, the WBC Evaluation Committee and during an interview with the sanctioning body over the weekend. “The Destroyer” is ranked second in the rankings at 147 pounds, despite less than solid opponents during his time in exile, during which Benn competed twice in the United States while his career in the United Kingdom was in doubt.
As he battled to clear his name and with the British Anti-Doping Authority finding no evidence that Benn had intentionally taken ostarine, the 28-year-old’s career took a pointed nosedive. Despite this, he remains highly rated and at least one step away from fighting for an eliminator or one of the remaining championship titles.
However, Pacquiao remains Barrios’ favorite. Now it’s up to the boxing legend and Hall of Famer who got the first votes to secure his shot. WBN believes a July date – most likely at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas – is the most realistic date for a Nevada swan song.
Pacquiao could extend his record as the oldest welterweight champion by six years if he can secure a huge victory over the 29-year-old world champion. At 46 years antique, such a scenario remains unlikely, but he can never be compared to one of the greatest players of this generation.
Unlike heavier boxers and his training regiment, Pacquiao looks in great shape despite his advanced age. Everything is set for a massive return to the boxing capital of the world, provided Pacquiao and his team can manage his political ambitions, which are expected to run from this month until May. After that time, Pacquiao could find himself in the summer finals and become the all-time champion, regardless of the result.
Barrios is based in the city, where he trained with Santos, and would be the perfect opponent to see out the career of one of the greatest fighters in history.
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