Sergey Lipinet survives a fight with Robbie Davies Jr., winning a unanimous decision in Florida
Sergey Lipinet overcame tough times as he battled Robbie Davies, Jr. to come away with a much-needed victory.
Lipinet won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Davies on Wednesday night at the Whitesands (aka ProBox TV) Events Center in Plant City, Florida. The results were 96-91, 95-92, and 98-89 for the Lipinets, who improved to 18-3-1, 13.
The Lipinets-Davies fight was a clash where the winner will be placed in the 140-pound division. What happened on Wednesday was one of the best fights of 2024.
Lipinet dominated the opening two rounds, using an effective jab and lead and left hook to Davies’ head while taking Davies to the floor. A flurry of punches led to Davies’ nose bleeding at the end of the second round.
At the end of the third round, Davies landed a left hook to the head, rocking Lipinet. Davies followed up, but couldn’t cash in. With 30 seconds left in the fourth round, Lipinet was hurt again with another hook to the head. Davies tried to follow up again, but Lipinet won the round.
Lipinet bled, possibly breaking, Davies’ nose early in the fifth round. Moments later, a right hand, followed by a right cross dropped Davies to the canvas. Davies managed to beat the count, and fought bravely.
After Lipinet had a very successful fight in the sixth and seventh rounds, Lipinet dropped Davies with a punch to the body early in the eighth round. Moments later, a left combination dropped Davies to the canvas for the second time during that round. Just when it looked like Lipinet was going to end the round, Davies got on Lipinet’s head, knocking him down. Lipinet managed to withstand a lot of punches.
Davies was effective in spots during the last two rounds of the fight, but Lipinet was the more successful fighter, outboxing Davies on the outside during most of the exchanges.
Lipinets, who is originally from Martuk, Kazakhstan and now resides in the Los Angeles area of Woodland Hills, California, lost a unanimous decision to Michel Rivera in his last fight on November 25. In August 2022, Lipinets stopped world lightweight champion Omar. Figueroa in a one-sided fight.
The 35-year-old won the vacant IBF world junior welterweight title in November 2017, defeating Japan’s Akihiro Kondo by unanimous decision. Lipinet would lose the title four months later, dropping a decision to then-undefeated Mikey Garcia.
Davies, who lives in Liverpool, England, dropped to 23-5, 15 KOs. Davies, 34, was coming off a defeat in his previous fight, losing by knockout to Darragh Foley on March 23 last year. Davies was knocked out in the second round and again in the third round which resulted in him injuring his ankle, which prevented him from continuing.
In the main event, heavyweight 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 KO.
Feliz, a striking freshman from Danbury, Connecticut, was the dominant fighter from the opening bell, landing punches that sent Navarro’s head back several times. Navarro did not appear to be hurt due to the number of punches he received in the first two rounds of the fight. In the third round, Feliz was backed into the corner, where Navarro landed a right hand under the belt, dropping Feliz to one knee. Feliz was given time to recover from the blow.
Navarro was still playing during the fight, despite being hit several times. Towards the end of the fourth round, a counter left on his head caught Feliz’s eye. Feliz moved his way midway through the fifth round, connecting with a flurry of punches culminating in a left hook that momentarily stunned Navarro. Feliz was able to survive the attack and was out of the round.
Towards the end of the fifth round, Feliz threw and landed a series of punches that backed Navarro into the ropes. Just before the bell rang, Navarro threw a right hand that clipped Feliz’s head.
Sensing that he had earned the points, Feliz fought from a distance in the southpaw position in the final round. After being hit again, and giving himself time to recover, Feliz continued to fight from a distance, but Navarro again clipped Feliz with another hook to the head. Feliz did not appear to be injured from being punched.
Navarro, who lives in Agua Prieta, Mexico, is 11-2, 9 KO.
Lightweight prospect Tsendbaatar Erdenebat improved to 10-0, 5 KO, earning a third round stoppage over Puerto Rico’s Alberto Mercado.
In a clash of southpaws, Erdenebat began to be the aggressor in the second round, closing the distance and throwing two and three punches to Mercado’s head. Brightly, Mercado stood in the pocket, looking to fight Erdenebat in the head.
At the beginning of the third round, Erdenebat began to come down steadily. Midway through the round, several punches surprised Mercado. Moments later, Mercado’s eyelid was ripped open by a fist, blood spurting out. Referee Michael DeJesus asked the ringside doctor to look at the cut, which looked too difficult to allow Mercado to continue causing DeJesus to stop the fight at 2:39.
The 27-year-old, who now lives in the Los Angeles suburb of Paramount, is representing Mongolia at the 2016 and 2021 Olympic Games. Erdenebat was promoted by Lou DiBella.
Mercado, who lives in Humacao, Puerto Rico, falls to 17-7-1, 4 KOs. The 37-year-old has lost five of his last six fights.
In the undefeated junior lightweight tournament, Robert Meriwether III of Las Vegas defeated Mexico’s Victor Lopez Gala (5-1, 3 KOs) by decision in six one-sided rounds. All three judges scored it 60-54 in favor of Meriwether, who is 6-0, 2 KOs. Meriwether was dominant, outboxing Lopez throughout the fight.
In the opening fight of the ProBox TV card, New Port Richey welterweight Terrence Williams scored a highlight-reel victory over Argentina’s Jonathan Sosa (7-17-2, 4 KOs). Williams landed a left hook to the head, putting him on the canvas, prompting referee Michael DeJesus to immediately stop the fight at 1:09.
Williams improved to 6-0, 5 KO.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has handled boxing in Southern California and internationally since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. They can be reached at [email protected]
