JARON ENNIS knocked out Sergey Lipinets to continue his rise up the welterweight rankings. He stopped the former 140-lbs world champion inside six rounds at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville on Saturday (April 10).
Lipinets stood in close to connect with hooks. But Ennis was dangerous on the inside too, ripping his uppercut through and whipping a hook to the head. An uppercut dropped Lipinets in the fourth round and Ennish was forcing him back in the fifth, only for a shot below the belt to oblige “Boots” to back off.
In the sixth round, from the southpaw stance, a right hook hurt Lipinets, setting up a left that blasted the Russian off his feet to finish the fight at 2-11.
It secured the most significant win of Ennis’ 27-0 (25) career in some style.
“I’ll always be hard on myself when I look back at my performance,” said Ennis. “My goal is to keep getting better, sharper, faster and stronger so I can become world champion. As long as I keep fighting top guys, I’m happy. I feel like I will be world champion by the end of this year or beginning of next year. Patience is the key though.”
“Lipinets has been in there with the best before, so I wasn’t surprised he held up for a while,” he added. “I knew he’d be durable. That’s why I didn’t jump on the gas right away. I just took my time and broke him down.
“I think I graduated tonight… It’s on the up and up now. It’s onto bigger and better fights now.”