Sergey Lipinets

Sergey Alekseyevich Lipinets is a Russian professional boxer and former kickboxer who held the IBF light-welterweight title from 2017 to 2018.

Early life and kickboxing career

Lipinets was born in Martuk, Kazakhstan, but moved to Russia at the age of 9. Lipinets originally competed as a kickboxer, medaling in competitions like the 2012 W.A.K.O. European Championships and the 2013 World Combat Games.

Professional boxing career

After a brief amateur boxing career in which he went 35–5, Lipinets turned pro in 2014.

Lipinets vs. Zappavigna

After winning 10 pro bouts, Lipinets faced Lenny Zappavigna in an IBF eliminator. The winner would become the mandatory challenger to the IBF champion, the winner of an April 2017 bout between Ricky Burns and Julius Indongo. Lipinets proved to be too much for Zappavigna, as the latter went down during round 5 before being counted out following a right straight from Lipinets in round 8. Both fighters suffered several cuts during the fight.
Following Indongo's win over Burns, Lipinets tried to start negotiations with the IBF champion. However, the IBF granted Indongo an exception to allow him to unify all the major light welterweight titles against Terence Crawford. After Crawford's win over Indongo, the IBF ordered Crawford to defend his title against Lipinets. Lipinets stated that the IBF title was "stolen from him". As Crawford didn't plan to return to the ring before the IBF's deadline, he vacated the IBF title just 11 days after defeating Indongo.

Lipinets vs. Kondo

The IBF ordered Lipinets to face Akihiro Kondo for their vacant title. The fight was finalized for 4 November on the undercard of a Deontay Wilder bout. The event was televised on Showtime. Lipinets became the IBF champion, winning by unanimous decision. The decision was booed upon being announced but several media outlets scored it for Lipinets, albeit on closer cards. Lipinets connected to Kondo's body often throughout the fight, but Kondo remained unfazed by the body shots. Kondo kept coming forward and rocked Lipinets in round 5. Lipinets was cut by an accidental head clash midway through the fight.

Lipinets vs. Clayton

On 24 October 2020, Lipinets faced Custio Clayton who was ranked #4 by the WBO, #5 by the IBF and #10 by the WBA. The bout ended in a majority draw, with two of the judges scoring the fight 114-114, 114-114, while the third judge saw Clayton as the winner scoring it 115-113 in his favor.

Lipinets vs. Ennis

In his next bout, Lipinets fought Jaron Ennis, ranked #7 by the WBO, #9 by the IBF and #12 by the WBC at welterweight. Despite catching Ennis a few times, Lipinets was mostly overmatched in the bout and lost the fight via sixth round KO.

Titles and accomplishments

Kickboxing

Professional

WAKO-Pro Full Contact World -64.5 kg Champion

Amateur

World Association of Kickboxing Organizations
* 2011 WAKO World Championships in Dublin Full Contact -63.5 kg Silver
* 2012 WAKO European Championships in Bucharest Full Contact -63.5 kg Gold
* 2012 WAKO World Cup Bestfighter in Rimini Full Contact -63.5 kg Bronze
* 2013 WAKO World Championships in Antalya Full Contact -63.5 kg Gold
World Combat Games
* 2013 World Combat Games Full Contact -63.5 kg Silver

Professional boxing record

No.	Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, time	Date	Location	Notes
24	Loss		Arthur Biyarslanov	UD	10	30 Oct 2025	Montreal Casino, Quebec, Canada	For NABF light-welterweight title
23	Loss		Adam Azim	TKO	9, 0:33	1 Feb 2025	Wembley Arena, London, England	For vacant IBO light-welterweight title
22	Win	18–3–1	Robbie Davies Jr.	UD	10	8 May 2024	ProBox TV Events Center, Plant City, Florida, U.S.
21	Loss	17–3–1	Michel Rivera	UD	10	25 Nov 2023	Michelob Ultra Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
20	Win	17–2–1	Omar Figueroa Jr.	RTD	8, 3:00	20 Aug 2022	Seminole [Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood\|Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino], Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
19	Loss	16–2–1	Jaron Ennis	KO	6, 2:33	10 Apr 2021	Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, US
18	Draw	16–1–1	Custio Clayton		12	24 Oct 2020	Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, US	For IBF interim welterweight title
17	Win	16–1	Jayar Inson	TKO	2, 0:57	20 Jul 2019	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, US
16	Win	15–1	Lamont Peterson	TKO	10, 2:59	24 Mar 2019	MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland, US
15	Win	14–1	Erick Bone		10	4 Aug 2018	Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York, US
14	Loss	13–1	Mikey Garcia	UD	12	10 Mar 2018	Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas, US	Lost IBF light-welterweight title
13	Win	13–0	Akihiro Kondo	UD	12	4 Nov 2017	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, US	Won vacant IBF light-welterweight title
12	Win	12–0	Clarence Booth	TKO	7, 1:33	4 Mar 2017	Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, US
11	Win	11–0	Leonardo Zappavigna	KO	8, 1:23	10 Dec 2016	Galen Center, Los Angeles, California, US
10	Win	10–0	Walter Castillo	TKO	7, 2:45	15 Jul 2016	Horseshoe Casino, Tunica, Mississippi, US
9	Win	9–0	Levan Ghvamichava	KO	5, 1:40	15 Mar 2016	Robinson Rancheria Resort & Casino, Nice, California, US
8	Win	8–0	Haskell Rhodes	UD	10	30 Oct 2015	The Venue at UCF, Orlando, Florida, US
7	Win	7–0	Kendal Mena	TKO	3, 1:40	8 Jul 2015	B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, New [York, New York], US
6	Win	6–0	Cosme Rivera	TKO	9, 2:59	13 Mar 2015	A La Carte Event Pavilion, Tampa, Florida, US	Won vacant WBC Latino light-welterweight title
5	Win	5–0	Ernie Sanchez	KO	8, 0:48	28 Nov 2014	Luzhniki Palace of Sports, Moscow, Russia	Won vacant WBC International Silver light-welterweight title
4	Win	4–0	Daniel Lomeli		7, 1:45	27 Sep 2014	Krylatskoye Sports Palace, Moscow, Russia
3	Win	3–0	Rynell Griffin	KO	3, 2:36	18 Jul 2014	Quiet Cannon, Montebello, California, US
2	Win	2–0	Dzemil Cosovic		4, 1:52	30 May 2014	Luzhniki Palace of Sports, Moscow, Russia
1	Win	1–0	Franklin Varela		6	25 Apr 2014	Krylatskoye Sports Palace, Moscow, Russia

Kickboxing record