Sergey Lipinets
Sergey Lipinets is a professional boxer from Kazakhstan and former kickboxer who held the IBF light-welterweight title from 2017 to 2018. As of August 2019, Lipinets is ranked as the world's eighth best active welterweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, ninth by The Ring magazine and tenth by BoxRec.
Early life and kickboxing career
Lipinets was born on 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. 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.
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.
Professional boxing record
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 18 |  Kudratillo Abdukakhorov | – | 10 Oct 2020 |  Mohegan Sun Casino, Uncasville, 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 Silver International 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 |