Sergey Lipinets vs. Custio Clayton
A change of opponents and a postponed fighting date haven’t slowed down former 140-pound champion Sergey Lipinets’ hopes of winning a world title in a second weight class.
After constant visa issues forced unbeaten Kudratillo Abdukakhorov to postpone and eventually pull out of his original date against Lipinets (16-1, 12 KOs), the all-action native of Kazakhstan will now face Canada’s Custio Clayton (18-0, 12 KOs) on Saturday in the main event of a Showtime Boxing: Special Edition card (9 p.m. ET) from the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut.
The interim IBF welterweight title bout will make the winner the mandatory challenger for Errol Spence Jr.’s title. Spence, who has been off for more than a year due to both the coronavirus pandemic and a scary car crash, returns on Dec. 5 in a pay-per-view clash with former champion Danny Garcia.
The 31-year-old Lipinets is riding a three-fight win streak, which includes a fight-of-the-year contender against Lamont Peterson, following the lone defeat of his career when he lost his IBF junior welterweight title to Mikey Garcia in 2018.
Fight card
- Sergey Lipinets vs. Custio Clayton, welterweights
- Xavier Martinez vs. Claudio Marrero, super featherweights
- Malik Hawkins vs. Subriel Matias, junior welterweights
Prediction
The most glaring difference between the two fighters is Clayton’s lack of experience against elite competition. Not only has Clayton never fought professionally outside of his native Canada, he has never faced someone with the combination of skill and relentlessness that has become Lipinets’ calling card.
