Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will be taking a big step up in class in taking on former light welterweight world champion Sergey Lipinets next May on Showtime Boxing.
The unbeaten 147-pound contender Ennis (26-0, 24 KOs) is getting a chance to show that he belongs at the top either the other welterweights in the division.
Mike Coppinger is the one reporting the news of the Ennis vs. Lipinets clash on Showtime.
Ennis #7 WBO, #10 IBF, #12 WBC will need to be in top form for him to deal with the heavy-handed # IBF Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 KOs).
The 23-year-old Philadelphia native “Boots” Ennis is a five-year pro who recently fought to a first-round no-decision against Chris Van Heerden last December.
That was supposed to be a step up, but unfortunately, Van Heerden suffered a cut in the first round, and the fight had to be stopped right away.
Ennis is viewed as a future superstar for the 147-lb division, and he needs more time to develop. At 23, Ennis much older than most of the top guys in the welterweight division.
Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr are two guys who are expected to take over the division after Errol Spence Jr, Terence Crawford, Manny Pacquiao, and Shawn Porter fades away and retires.
Ennis’ best wins thus far have come against these fighters:
- Juan Carlos Abreu
- Bakhtiyar Eyubov
- Franklin Mamani
- Raymon Serrano
- Mike Arnaoutis
- Armando Alvarez
As you can see, Ennis still hasn’t gotten his feet wet against upper-tier opposition yet. That’ll all change when he gets in there with #3 IBF Lipinets in May. Boxing fans will see for the first time if Ennis is as good as the hype surrounding his career.
All we know right now is Ennis has looked great against the pedestrian level opposition his management has fed him, but whether he can do that against legitimate world-class opposition is another thing.
Lipinets should show us whether Ennis has the goods to be the next big thing at 147. There’s a certain amount of risk involved in Ennis’ management putting him in with a fighter with Lipinet’s punching power and seasoning because he’s someone that could upset the applecart.
Lipinets’ lone career defeat came at Mikey Garcia’s hands in 2018, losing a 12 round unanimous decision. That was an odd fight to watch, as Lipinets did more damage and landed the harder shots.
Mikey was able to outbox Lipinets to win a wide 12 round decision. It’s one of those fights where if Lipinets was the popular A-side guy, he might have won, as he made a mess of Mikey’s face and did more damage to him than Errol Spence did.
Mikey’s nose was bleeding at the end of the fight, and his face swelled up badly. This was arguably the hardest fight for Mikey of his career in terms of punishment.
“Sources: Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Sergey Lipinets have agreed to fight, a bout that is slated for May on Showtime.
Terrific fight, a real step-up for one of boxing’s rising stars. Lipinets among most underrated fighters in the sport,” said @MikeCoppinger.
Lipinets is coming off of a 12 round draw against Custio Clayton last October. In that fight, Clayton started fast but then wore down and was in retreat mode the entire second half of the contest.
Lipinets looked like the stronger, more composed fighter at the end. Clayton fell apart from the pressure and was disappointing. The power was gone from Clayton’s shots after six rounds, and he looked in distress from the seventh round on.
The draw ended a three-fight winning streak for Lipinets against these fighters:
- Lamont Peterson
- Jayar Inson
- Erick Bone
For Lipinets to have a chance of beating the heavily hyped Ennis, he’s going to have to really put it on him and not give him a chance to breathe.
