Lipinets Upends Davies in a Wednesday Night Firefight in Florida

The latest installment of the ProBox Wednesday Night Fights played out tonight at its permanent home in the Tampa suburb of Plant City. The main event, contested at a catchweight of 142 pounds, was an international affair pitting Sergey Lipinets, an LA-based Kazkh, briefly the IBF 140-pound world title-holder, against Liverpool, England’s Robbie Davies Jr, a former British, European, and Commonwealth champion who was making his U.S. debut.

The fight went the full “10” and Lipinets, who scored three knockdowns, won by a wide margin (98-89, 96-91, 95-92), but this was yet a fan-friendly fight between two aging warriors who left nothing in the ring.

Lipinets (pictured on the right) was controlling the fight before he was wobbled in round three. Davies hurt him again in the next frame, but Lipinets wasn’t deterred from pressing the action and quickly regained control of the fight. In round five, he knocked the Englishman to the canvas with a succession of right hands, one of which appeared to break Davies’ nose.

In round eight, he put Davies on the canvas twice, the first with a left to the liver and the second with an overhand right. But remarkably, the teak-tough Davies, who appeared to be just about finished, rocked Lipinets before the round was over.

Davies, who declined to 24-4, showed no signs of the broken ankle that he suffered against Irish southpaw Darragh Foley 14 months ago. However, at age 34, this may have been his farewell fight. Lipinets, aged 35 or 37 depending on one’s source, ate punches that he would not have eaten in his younger days. Although he improved his ledger to 18-3-1 (13), he too ought to consider hanging up his gloves.

Other Bouts

In an entertaining 8-round heavyweight bout, Fernely Felix Jr (8-0, 6 KOs) had too much class for Cesar Navarro (11-2), a rugged Mexican bodybuilder who had been campaigning in Phoenix. Feliz Jr, a Dominican born and raised in Connecticut, landed the crisper punches and was returned the winner by scores of 78-74 and 79-73 twice.

Feliz Jr, whose future may be at cruiserweight, comes from a boxing family. His father fought the likes of John Ruiz and Oleg Maskaev before leaving the sport with a record of 23-9. His younger brother Ali Feliz recently signed a multi-fight deal with Top Rank. Junior’s next fight has already been booked. He fights TBA next month in Buenos Aires.

Tsendbaatar Erdenebat, a 27-year-old Mongolian southpaw and two-time Olympian, scored a third-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Alberto Mercado in a lightweight match slated for “8.” The bout was stopped at the 2:39 mark by the ring physician after Mercado suffered a bad cut on his left eyelid.

Erdenebat (10-0, 5 KOs) dominated the fight for as long as it lasted. It was the sixth loss in the last eight starts for Mercado (17-7-1), a 15-year pro who has routinely been matched tough.

The TV opener was a 6-round battle of 19-year-old lightweights. Robert Meriwether III, a Louisville native who trains at the Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas, improved to 6-0 (2) at the expense of Mexico’s Victor Manuel Lopez (5-1). Meriwether gave up about six inches in height, but won every round against his defensive-oriented opponent.

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