By Ian S Palmer
Former IBF Super Lightweight Champion Sergey Lipinets of Kazakhstan will be taking on former junior welterweight and welterweight champ Lamont Peterson of Washington D.C. this Sunday, March 24th at the MGM Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. The 12-round welterweight bout can be seen live in the USA on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes. Lipinets last fought in August when he beat Erick Bone by a 10-round majority decision. Peterson’s last bout saw him stopped at the hands of Errol Spence after seven rounds in January of 2018 in a shot at the IBF Welterweight Title.
The 35-year-old Peterson won the regular WBA Welterweight Title when be beat David Avanesyan of Russia in Feb, 2017 and was the IBF and WBA Jr. Welterweight Champ back in 2011. Peterson will be climbing through the ropes with a record of 35-4-1 along with 17 Kos. He stands 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 72-inch reach and has 283 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro back in 2004.
Peterson isn’t known for his power as his knockout ratio currently stands at 43 per cent.
He’s been in the ring against some top-notch boxers such as Amir Khan, Danny Garcia, Lucas Matthysse, Dierry Jean, Kendall Holt, Timothy Bradley and Victor Ortiz. However, Peterson sometimes struggles against elite fighters. He won a very controversial decision against Khan in 2011 and later failed a drug test. His losses came against Spence, Bradley, Matthysse and Garcia, with Matthysse stopping him in three rounds in May, 2013 and Spence stopping him last year.
Peterson’s draw was a 10-round affair against Victor Ortiz in 2010. Peterson has plenty of pro experience, but perhaps doesn’t have the greatest chin in the division. This is just his third fight since 2015 and first in 14 months so that likely won’t benefit him either. Peterson’s a determined, fast-paced fighter though who doesn’t mind slugging it out and that’s why he’s been a fan-friendly boxer over the years. He’s a good boxer who has a lot of energy and can produce a high work rate when needed.
The 29-year-old Lipinets is 14-1 with 10 Kos. He obviously has some power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 67 per cent. Lipinets turned pro in 2014 after a fine amateur career and is also a former WAKO Kickboxing Champion. He’ has 111 rounds of pro experience and stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 67-inch reach so gives up two inches in height and five inches in reach to Peterson. His lone career loss came via a 12-round unanimous decision to Mikey Garcia last March in which he lost his IBF Jr. Welterweight Crown in his first defence.
The only other recognizable names on his list of opponents are Bone, Walter Castillo and Cosme Rivera. Lipinets won the the vacant IBF Title with a unanimous decision over Akihiro Kondo in November of 2017. Lipinets has displayed a solid chin so far to go along with his power so far, but was dropped in the seventh round by Garcia. He’ll need to somehow negate Peterson’s size advantage and speed on Sunday night and earn some respect for his own power by landing something of significance early in the fight.
Prediction…
Peterson is a fine boxer and can be entertaining when he lets his hands go. He does everything well, but he’s now getting older and hasn’t fought much over the past few years. Lipinets will need to work his way inside though due to the size difference between them. This will be Lipinets’ second fight as a welterweight and he has the power to do some damage to Peterson. I’m leaning towards Lipinets here, but Peterson may still have enough left in the tank to pull it out.
