CHANNELING CHILDHOOD AGGRESSION

Sergey Alkseevich Lipinets was born “in a very small town in Martuk, Kazakhstan.”

“Growing up in a large family of cousins and uncles, I was very aggressive and always getting into fights,” said Lipinets. “We fought over food. It went to whoever grabbed it first, so I had to fight for my existence.

“At the age of 12, my mother moved me from out there and into a little town not far from Moscow called Ozery [or Ozyory], Russia.”

Feeling displaced, Lipinets often found trouble in the streets and needed a means of safe release. 

“When I came to Russia, to make sure that I wasn’t getting into trouble in the streets, a local kickboxing coach told me to come to the gym to relieve some of the pressure. That’s how it started. I spent most of my time in the gym.

“In kickboxing, my trainer was emphasizing handwork a lot and made me do a lot of things right. I can fight southpaw [and] I can fight orthodox, because I got used to switching back and forth in kickboxing.”

Nicknamed “The Samurai,” for his martial arts skills, Lipinets medaled in kickboxing competitions at the 2012 World Association of Kickboxing Organizations (W.A.K.O.) European Championships as well as the 2013 World Combat Games. 

Current manager Alex Vaysfeld, who doubles as an interpreter for the fighter, became aware of Lipinets from one of his good friends, who happened to be Lipinets’ kickboxing trainer. 

The trainer thought Lipinets had accomplished all he could in that sport and could become a bigger star in boxing. Lipinets’ amateur boxing career was brief: He posted a record of 35-5 highlighted by earning a silver medal in the 2008 Moscow Championships in Moscow. 

“As a kickboxer, most of my knockouts were a result of using my hands, so the transition to boxing was more about the endurance and it was not that bad. We had two different coaches, one for boxing and one for kickboxing. I was competing in amateur boxing as well to get experience,” said Lipinets, who ate endless elbows and legs, the steady diet of punishment inherent in his past as a professional kickboxer.

“Those shots will either make you fall down or become real, real, real tough. There were some hurdles. I squared up too much and had to learn to create distance with my jab. We were able to eliminate that, and I’m the boxer you see, now. Two guys with different styles that I like are Mike Tyson and James Toney. I’ve met James Toney and I know him and I consider him a Top 10 fighter of all time. I think Roberto Duran would be a great fight, and I think I would win with a body shot.”

AN EXPLOSIVE START

Lipinets won his first five professional bouts -- four by stoppage -- over the course of 2014.

In succession, “The Samurai” captured a shutout six-round unanimous decision over Frank Varela (April) before reeling off consecutive knockouts in the fourth, third, seventh and eighth rounds over Dzemil Cosovic (May), Rynell Griffin (July), Daniel Lomeli (September) and Ernie Sanchez (November).

Varela entered at 21-14 with 10 knockouts, Lomeli was 22-4 with 11 KOs, and Sanchez, 14-5-1 with five stoppages, the latter being stopped for the first time in his career. 

“Sergey specifically asked me not to give him any shortcuts,” said Vaysfeld. “He wanted to fight on a top level, make money and become a champion of the world.”

As the competition improved over the next two years, so did the impressiveness of Lipinets’ victories.

In 2015, Lipinets dispatched former title challenger Cosme Rivera (March) and Kendal Mena (July) by ninth- and third-round TKOs before earning a one-sided unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Lydell Rhodes (October). 

Lipinets was even more dominant in 2016, scoring fifth-, seventh- and eighth-round knockouts over Levan “The Wolf” Ghvamichava (March), Walter Castillo (July) and former title challenger Leonardo Zappavigna.

WINNING A WORLD TITLE

Lipinets won his next two bouts at Barclays’ Center in Brooklyn, New York, in 2017, earning his fourth straight stoppage by seventh-round TKO of Clarence Booth (March) before earning a near-shutout unanimous decision over and the IBF’s vacant super lightweight crown against Japan’s Akihiro Kondo (November).

With the win over Kondo, Lipinets joined countryman Beibut Shumenov, former 140-pound titleholder Chris Algieri and retired heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko as boxing title winners who transitioned from kickboxing.

“The excitement in that arena was unbelievable. I love the New York and American boxing fans,” said Lipinets. “They were very passionate and reacted to every punch that was thrown or connected. They love boxing.”

After being floored in the seventh round and losing his next bout and his crown to then-unbeaten Mikey Garcia in March 2018, Lipinets rose into the 147-pound division where he overcame journeyman Erick Bone by majority decision in August of that year. 

“My camps for both fights were good, but I was lacking in experience relative to those two fighters,” said Lipinets, who opted to transition from trainer Buddy McGirt to Joe Goossen following the victory over Bone. 

“I never felt right in the ring with those guys, especially with Mikey Garcia. Stylistically, I could never match with Buddy McGirt, who wanted me to be slick and throw five or six punches a round without getting hit. Now, with Joe Goossen, I feel more comfortable.”

TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN

Lipinets’ next triumph was a 2019 Fight Of The Year candidate as “The Samurai” turned in his finest performance to date, scoring a 10th-round stoppage of brave, hometown favorite and former two-time champion Lamont Peterson in March at the MGM National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Maryland, near Peterson’s native Washington, D.C.

Lipinets followed up in July with a sensational second-round TKO of southpaw Jayar Inson, who entered at 18-1 with 12 knockouts and was stopped for the first time in his career. Inson was a late replacement for right-handed slugger and former title challenger John Molina.  

“The fight with Bone was the turning point, and Lamont Peterson was my first with Goossen. We had a great camp with Joe Goossen, who encourages an aggressive coaching style while also being smart in the ring. There is a great inside game and I picked up on it really fast,” said Lipinets.

“When we got into the ring with Lamont, we came prepared. I learned more about myself in that fight than in all of my previous fights, and it felt natural. That carried over into the next fight with Inson, who was a last-minute replacement for John Molina and a southpaw with a completely different style. We got him out of there faster than anyone expected.”

So what’s next?

“I want Keith Thurman, Terrence Crawford, Shawn Porter and whomever else is out there,” said Lipinets. “I want everyone at the top of the food chain to show that I’m underrated and to show that I truly belong.”

Staying Strong at 147

On October 24, 2020, Lipinets and unbeaten Custio Clayton fought to a majority draw in a welterweight clash headlining action live on SHOWTIME® from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

Lipinets and Clayton  each added the first draw of their professional careers in the 12-round battle for the Interim IBF Welterweight Title. One judge scored the fight 115-113 for Clayton but was overruled by the two judges who scored the bout a 114-114 draw.

“I thought I won the fight, but Clayton is a good fighter,” said Lipinets. “He was stronger than I thought he’d be. I haven’t fought in a year and it shows. I need to get my rhythm back in a couple of fights before I face the top level fighters.”

The fight was defined by the Russian Lipinets’ blistering body attack against the precision of the Canadian Olympian Clayton’s jab. According to CompuBox, Lipinets out landed Clayton to the body by an 80 to 29 tally, while Clayton had the superior jab to the tune of 135 landed compared to 68 from Lipinets.

Lipinets would suffer a setback on April 10, 2021, when he suffered a sixth-round TKO defeat to rising welterweight sensation Jaron "Boots" Ennis. 

BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER

Lipinets was scheduled to appear on the undercard of the Adrien Broner-Omar Figueroa headliner Saturday, August 20, 2022 Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. in a Premier Boxing Champions Event on SHOWTIME. However, when Broner pulled out, Lipinets stepped in for the 12-round WBC 140-pound world title eliminator. 

Fighting at 140 for the first time in four years, Lipinets shined, punishing former world champion Figueroa for eight rounds, causing Figueroa’s father Omar Sr. to stop the fight before the start of the ninth round. 

ipinets floored Figueroawith a short, compact counter right hand with a minute left in the second round. Figueroa rose on shaky legs and Lipinets moved in and inflicted more punishment, round after round until the bout was stopped. 

“I had a good fighter in front of me,” Lipinets said in the ring afterward. “My hat's off to Omar for being a warrior. The punch that rocked Omar is the punch that my trainer and I have been working on for a long time. He came at me, and it was the perfect time to use it. I was too focused on protecting myself. I was concerned about him answering my punches, but it was not my job to stop the fight. 140 is my weight. I came back. I’m back.”

Lipinets held Figueroa to just 44 landed punches over eight rounds while landing 172 shots and 46.7% of his power punches on his way to the 8th round TKO.

Lipinets wasn't so fortunate in his next bout. On November 25, 2023, he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to rising 140-pounder Michel Rivera at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.