Sergey Lipinets overcame rough stretches in his clash against Robbie Davies, Jr. to come out with a much-needed victory.

Lipinets won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Davies Wednesday night at the Whitesands (also known as the ProBox TV) Events Center in Plant City, Florida. Scores were 96-91, 95-92, and 98-89 for Lipinets, who improved to 18-3-1, 13 knockouts. 

The Lipinets-Davies fight was a crossroads clash where the winner would be put in a position to face other contenders of the talented 140-pound division. What transpired Wednesday was one of the best fights of 2024. 

Lipinets dominated the opening two rounds, utilizing an effective jab and lead and counter left hook to Davies’ head while walking Davies down. The amount of punches landed led to blood streaming out of Davies’ nose by the end of the second round. 

At the end of the third round, Davies landed a left hook to the head, staggering Lipinets. Davies followed up, but was not able to capitalize. With about 30 seconds left in the fourth round, Lipinets was hurt again by another left hook to the head. Again Davies attempted to follow up, but Lipinets resiliently got through the round.

Lipinets bloodied, possibly breaking, Davies’ nose early on during round five. Moments later, a right hand, followed by a right cross dropped Davies to the canvas. Davies was able to beat the count, and bravely fought on.

After Lipinets was the more-effective fight during rounds six and seven, Lipinets dropped Davies with a punch to the body early in round eight. Moments later, a right-left combination dropped Davies a second time to the canvas during that round. Just when it looked like Lipinets was going to end matters that round, Davies landed a counter punch to Lipinets’ head, staggering him. Lipinets was able to weather the barrage of punches.

Davies was effective in spots during the last two rounds of the fight, but Lipinets was the more-effective fighter, outboxing and outlanding Davies during most of the exchanges. 

Lipinets, who is originally from Martuk, Kazakhstan and now resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills, California, lost a close unanimous decision to Michel Rivera in his previous fight on November 25. In August 2022, Lipinets stopped former world lightweight titleholder Omar Figueroa in a one-sided fight.

The 35-year-old won the vacant IBF world junior welterweight title in November 2017, defeating Akihiro Kondo of Japan by unanimous decision. Lipinets would lose the title over four months later, dropping a decision to then-unbeaten Mikey Garcia.

Davies, who resides in Liverpool, England, falls to 23-5, 15 KOs. The 34-year-old Davies was coming off a loss in his previous fight, losing by knockout to Darragh Foley on March 23 of last year. Davies was dropped in the second round and again during the third round that resulted in an injured ankle, which prevented him from continuing.

In the co-main event, heavyweight Fernely Feliz defeated Cesar Navarro by unanimous decision. Scores were 79-73, 79-73, and 78-74 for Feliz, who improved to 8-0, 6 KOs. 

Feliz, an amateur standout who resides in Danbury, Connecticut, was the more-effective fighter from the opening bell, landing thudding punches that snapped back the head of Navarro several times. Navarro did not look visibly hurt from the amount of punches he received during the first two rounds of the fight. During round three, Feliz was backed into a corner, where Navarro landed a right hand below the belt, dropping Feliz to one knee. Feliz was given time to recover from the low blow.

Navarro was still game during the fight, despite getting repeatedly hit. Late in the fourth round, a counter left to the head caught Feliz’s attention. Feliz swung momentum his way during round five, connecting with a barrage of punches that culminated in a left hook that momentarily stunned Navarro. Feliz was able to survive the onslaught and make it out of the round.

Towards the end of round five, Feliz threw and landed a series of punches that backed Navarro against the ropes. Right before the bell sounded, Navarro threw and landed a right hand that snapped Feliz’s head back. 

Sensing he was up on the scorecards, Feliz fought from distance in a southpaw stance during the last round. After he was hit low again, and taking time to recover, Feliz continued to fight from distance, but Navarro again clipped Feliz with another left hook to the head. Feliz was not visibly hurt from the punch.

Navarro, who resides in Agua Prieta, Mexico, falls to 11-2, 9 KOs. 

Lightweight prospect Tsendbaatar Erdenebat improved to 10-0, 5 KOs, earning a third round knockout win over Alberto Mercado of Puerto Rico.

In a clash of southpaws, Erdenebat began to be the aggressor in round two, closing the distance and throwing two and three-punch combinations to Mercado’s head. To his credit, Mercado stood in the pocket, looking to counter Erdenebat to the head.

Early in round three, Erdenebat began landing more consistently. Midway through the round, a barrage of punches stunned Mercado. Moments later, a punch opened a cut on Mercado’s eyelid, producing blood. Referee Michael DeJesus called for the ringside physician to look at the cut, which looked too severe to allow Mercado to continue, prompting DeJesus to stop the fight at 2:39.

The 27-year-old, who now resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Paramount, represented Mongolia in the 2016 and 2021 Olympic Games. Erdenebat is promoted by Lou DiBella. 

Mercado, who resides in Humacao, Puerto Rico, falls to 17-7-1, 4 KOs. The 37-year-old has lost five of his last six fights. 

In a clash of unbeaten junior lightweights, Robert Meriwether III of Las Vegas defeated Mexico’s Victor Lopez Gala (5-1, 3 KOs) by decision over six one-sided rounds. All three judges scored the bout 60-54 in favor of Meriwether, who improved to 6-0, 2 KOs. Meriwether was dominant, outboxing Lopez throughout most of the fight. 

In the opening bout of the ProBox TV card, welterweight Terrence Williams of nearby New Port Richey scored a highlight-reel knockout win over Argentina’s Jonathan Sosa (7-17-2, 4 KOs). Williams landed a double left hook to the head, dropping him to the canvas, prompting referee Michael DeJesus to immediately stop the fight at 1:09. 

Williams improved to 6-0, 5 KOs. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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