Sergey Lipinets vs John Molina Jr. Preview July 20th
Former IBF Super Lightweight Champion Sergey Lipinets of Kazakhstan will be taking on John Molina Jr of Covina, California at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday, July 20th. The 10 or 12-round welterweight bout can be seen live in the USA on Fox Pay Per View on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs Keith Thurman tilt. Lipinets last fought in March when he stopped former world champ Lamont Peterson in the 10th round. Molina was last in the ring in February when he dropped a controversial 10-round unanimous decision to Omar Figueroa Jr, a former WBC Lightweight champion.
Lipinets vs Molina Jr. Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- John Molina Jr. +763
- Sergey Lipinets -1163
My Pick
The 30-year-old Lipinets is 15-1 with 11 Kos. He obviously has some power in his fists with a current knockout ratio of 69 per cent. Lipinets turned pro in 2014 after a fine amateur career and is also a former WAKO Kickboxing Champion. He has 121 rounds of pro experience and stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 67-inch reach. His lone career loss came via a 12-round unanimous decision to Mikey Garcia last March of 2018 in which he lost his IBF Jr. Welterweight Crown in his first defence.
The only other recognizable names on his list of opponents are Erick Bone, Walter Castillo and Cosme Rivera. Lipinets won the the vacant IBF Title with a unanimous decision over Akihiro Kondo in November of 2017. He has displayed a solid chin so far to go along with his power but was dropped in the seventh round by Garcia. This will be Lipinets’ third fight as a welterweight and he has the power to do some damage to Molina.
The 36-year-old Molina climbs through the ropes with a mark of 30-8 along with 24 Kos and has struggled lately with seven losses in his last 14 bouts. He has a three-inch height advantage over Lipinets as he’s just over 5-feet-10-inches tall and has a 71-inch reach, which means he has a four-inch advantage in that department as well. Molina’s a tough guy with plenty of experience and has been in several slugfests.
Molina’s best days are behind him now even though he managed to surprise many fans by beating Ruslan Provodnikov in June, 2016 and stopped Ivan Redkach in four rounds in 2017 after getting up from the canvas. He’s also beaten Mickey Bey, Hank Lundy, Efren Hinojosa and Frankie Archuleta. Molina’s chin isn’t his strongest point as he’s been stopped three times. However, he has faced some elite fighters and taken plenty of solid shots from them while remaining on his feet.
As well as losing to Figueroa the last time out, Molina’s losses have been against Martin Honorio by unanimous decision in 2009, to WBC Lightweight Titleholder Antonio DeMarco by first-round TKO in 2012, to Andrey Klimov by majority decision in 2013, to Lucas Matthysse by 11th-round stoppage in 2014, to Humberto Soto by unanimous decision in 2014, to Adrien Broner by unanimous decision in 2015 and to world champ Terence Crawford by eight-round stoppage in December, 2016.
Molina turned pro in 2006 and has boxed 187 rounds since and his knockout ratio currently stands at 63 per cent. He’s got good power but unfortunately his chin isn’t as solid as his fists and that’s what makes him an exciting and fan-friendly fighter. It’s not really in Molina’s nature to utilize his boxing skills as he can easily be drawn into a brawl and that’s why this bout could be a treat for the fans. Molina possesses plenty of heart and if he loses he always goes down swinging.
Prediction…
At 36 years of age and after enduring several brawls during his career it’s hard to say what Molina has left in the tank. He has a decent height and reach advantage over Lipinets and if he can keep him to the outside he has a better chance. However, in all likelihood this eventually turns into a bit of a brawl and I think Lipinets will emerge with the win.
Lipinets is a class above Molina and it should show.
Play: Lipinets -1163 @ BetOnline.ag
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John Molina betting • Sergey Lipinets betting