Tonight starting at 9 pm ET on Showtime, Sergey Lipinets will face Custio Clayton in the main event of a three-fight Premier Boxing Champions card from Connecticut, with an interim IBF welterweight title on the line.
Lipinets, 31, was originally scheduled to face Kudratillo Abdukakhorov, which was seen as a better, more interesting matchup, but for a late replacement, the 33-year-old Clayton is a good get. Clayton was an Olympian for Canada in 2012 and fought well in London, but as a pro he’s done very little in six years. This is him taking his shot, and at least he’s taking it. Could be a fun fight, too, as Lipinets usually makes guys fight.
How to Watch Lipinets vs Clayton
Date: Saturday, Oct. 24 | Start Time: 9:00 pm ET
Location: Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT
TV: Showtime | Stream: Showtime.com
In the co-feature, prospect Xavier Martinez will take on veteran Claudio Marrero in a 12-round WBA junior lightweight eliminator. Why the 31-year-old Marrero gets an eliminator at 130 after being battered in his last fight at 126 is a question worth asking, but then again not really, because it’s the WBA and it’s boxing in general. The idea is they want to get Martinez into a mandatory slot. Marrero has much more experience than the 22-year-old Martinez, but he’s also had very mixed results against his better opponents.
The opener is a 10-round junior welterweight bout between 24-year-old prospect Malik Hawkins and 28-year-old Subriel Matias, who was upset by Petros Ananyan in his last fight on Feb. 22.
Full Card (SHO, 9:00 pm ET)
- Sergey Lipinets (16-1, 12 KO) vs Custio Clayton (18-0, 12 KO), welterweights, 12 rounds
- Xavier Martinez (15-0, 11 KO) vs Claudio Marrero (24-4, 17 KO), junior lightweights, 12 rounds
- Malik Hawkins (18-0, 11 KO) vs Subriel Matias (15-1, 15 KO), junior welterweights, 10 rounds