A week after initial reports that top welterweight prospect Jaron “Boots” Ennis would be facing former 140-pound titleholder Sergey Lipinets, it looks like we have a set date, as Mike Coppinger reports the bout will go ahead April 10 on Showtime.
At the moment, there’s nothing otherwise scheduled for U.S. TV on April 10, other than an afternoon Matchroom show from the UK on DAZN, but one figures somebody will probably put something together for this date on DAZN in the evening or on ESPN or whatever. Promoters and broadcasters can’t help themselves anymore.
Ennis (26-0, 24 KO) wants to make his move in the welterweight division at age 23, and has boasted several times that he’s ready for the top fighters. But he hasn’t faced a real contender yet, or even a genuinely solid contender like the 31-year-old Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 KO), who is coming off of a draw with Custio Clayton in October.
It’s a fight where Ennis will be solidly favored to win, and if he’s what he says he is, he should really do so in style. Lipinets is a good, tough fighter, but he’s a good notch or two below the real top guys at 147. But this is a fine matchup, the right sort of step for Ennis, and Lipinets always comes to fight, so there should be some entertainment value in it, too.