Michel Rivera vs Sergey Lipinets Preview November 25th, 2023
Former IBF Junior Welterweight Champion Sergey Lipinets of Kazakhstan returns to the ring this Saturday, November 25th to take on Michel Rivera of the Dominican Republic. The 10-round junior welterweight scrap from Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live in America on Showtime pay per view and FITE TV on the undercard of the David Benavidez vs Demetrius Andrade scrap. Lipinets hasn’t fought since August of last year when he halted former world champion Omar Figueroa after eight rounds for the WBC Silver Super Lightweight Title. Rivera last saw action in December when he dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Frank Martin after being dropped in the seventh round.
Rivera vs Lipinets Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Sergey Lipinets +100
- Michel Rivera – 130
My Pick
Former IBF Super Lightweight Champion Sergey Lipinets won that vacant title in November, 2017 with a unanimous decision over Akihiro Kondo. The 34-year-old is now 17-2-1 with 13 Ko’s. He has pretty good power in his fists as 76.5 per cent of his wins have come by stoppage. Lipinets turned pro in 2014 after a fine amateur career and is also a former WAKO Kickboxing Champion. He has 149 rounds of pro experience under45 his belt and stands 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 67-inch reach.
His first career loss came via a 12-round unanimous decision to Mikey Garcia in March, 2018 in which he lost his IBF Crown in his first defence. His second defeat came at the hands of Jaron Ellis when he was stopped in the sixth round in April, 2021. Lipinets’ biggest victories have been stopping former world champion Lamont Peterson in the 10th round in March, 2019 and beating Figueroa the last time out.
The only other recognizable opponents he’s faced are Erick Bone, Walter Castillo and Cosme Rivera. His lone draw was a 12-round majority affair with Custio Clayton in October, 2020 for the Interim IBF Welterweight Belt. Lipinets has displayed a pretty good chin so far to go along with his power even though he was dropped in the seventh round by Garcia and stopped by Ennis. Lipinets, who fights out of California, also won the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Welterweight Title in July, 2019 when he stopped Jay Ar Inson in the second round.
Rivera is just 25 years old and fights out of Miami, Florida. He’s gone a total of 154 rounds since making his pro debut back in 2016 as a teenager. He carries around a fine mark of 24-1 with 14 Ko’s with his only loss being against Frank Martin via a 12-round unanimous decision the last time out in December. Rivera measures 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 71-inch wingspan, so is two inches taller than Lipinets with a four-inch edge in reach.
Rivera captured the vacant WBC Continental Americas Lightweight Title in February, 2020 when he stopped Fidel Maldonado Jr in the 10th and final round and added the vacant IBF USBA Lightweight Belt eight months later with a 10-round unanimous decision over Ladarius Miller. He also has wins over Joseph Adorno, Jon Fernandez, Jerry Perez and Jose Matias Romero. As far as power is concerned, 58.3 per cent of Rivera’s wins have come by stoppage and he’s been on the canvas a couple of times himself during his career.
Prediction…
Both boxers have been out of the ring for several months and there could be some ring rust to deal with here. Lipinets is a solid and rugged pro with enough power to cause some damage but he’s also nine years older than Rivera. As for Rivera, he fell short when stepping up in class against frank martin the last time out and if Lipinets is at his best I have a feeling he may suffer another defeat here. This is a 10-rounder though so Lipinets needs to get off to a quick start or he’ll find himself on the wrong end of a decision. As long as Lipinets lets his hands go freely, then he should pull it out.
Lipinets ruggedness and experience against tougher competition could be the difference.
Play: Lipinets +100 @ BetOnline.ag
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Michel Rivera betting • Sergey Lipinets betting