In an all-action crossroads clash, former world champion Omar “Panterita” Figueroa Jr. and Sergey Lipinets will fight in the WBC Super Lightweight 12th place knockout live on SHOWTIME this Saturday, August 20 from Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. During the Top Boxing Championship event.
The TV show SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING will also feature top 140-pound athletes Alberto Puello and Batyr Akhmedov attending the vacated WBA Lightweight World Championships in the co-main event and the World Championship. WBA superweight world champion Roger Gutierrez defends his title against undefeated Hector Garcia. In the TV show opening, Brandun Lee, one of the sport’s biggest and most promising boxers, will face off against Will Madera in a 10-round ultralightweight bout, opening the four-hour TV show. Loaded match starts live at 8pm ET / 5pm PT. .
In addition, SPORTS SHOWTIME will provide live streams of undefeated Cuban heavyweight Lenier Peró against Joel Caudle in an eighth round and undefeated middleweight Fiodor Czerkaszyn against Gilbert Venegas Jr. in an eight-round match via the SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel and the SHOWTIME boxing Facebook page before the televised quadruple tournament. Streaming begins at 6pm ET/3pm PT and will be featured by SHOBOX® analyst and MORNING KOMBAT host Brian Campbell along with former heavyweight world champion Keith “One Time” Thurman joined as a guest analyst.
Four-division world champion Adrien Broner withdrew from a previously scheduled match against Figueroa, citing personal problems prior to the match.
“Oh my gosh, here I go [through] a lot at this point in my life, but I’m not giving up. I set some more goals and finished what I started but am sorry to say this, but I am not fighting on August 20th,” Broner said in an Instagram post. “Sorry to all my fans but Mental Health is real and I don’t plan to play inside the ring… So I have to step back and get over this obstacle before I put my life on the line. line inside the square circle again. I know I’m far from finished with the sport of SEE Y’ALL SOON. ”
32-year-old Figueroa (28-2-1, 19 KOs) comes from a fighting family alongside his younger brother Brandon, a former super bantamweight world champion. Figueroa won the WBC lightweight world championship with a unanimous decision victory over Nihito Arakawa in the “Battle of the Year” in 2013 and successfully defended the title twice before moving up to superlightweight in 2015. Figueroa also fought in the welterweight, sword action- wins over Robert Guerrero, John Molina Jr. and Antonio DeMarco. He will return to ultralightweight on August 20 after consecutive defeats to Yordenis Ugas and Abel Ramos. His match against the Lipinets was a classic.
“It’s going to be a great fight against Lipinets and I hope he’s ready for what I bring,” Figueroa said. “I’ve had changes in my life and I’m happy to see the kind of warrior I have now. I will show what I can do now when I have a clear head and a clear path ahead. With the change of opponents, I was even more willing to take all the frustration and anger that had built up in camp and take it into the ring on Saturday and win. “
Lipinets (16-2-1, 12 KOs) have been training and were scheduled to appear on the August 20 card before being raised as Broner’s replacement in the main event. Born in Martuk, Kazakhstan and now living in Woodland Hills, California, Lipinets is no stranger to the main stage, having met champions like Lamont Peterson and Mikey Garcia. The 33-year-old defeated Akhiro Kondo to win the IBF ultralightweight title in 2017 and lost the title to Garcia by unanimous decision in 2018. He will lose to Jaron Ennis in a match in Welding weight class in April 2021.
“We were actually in the camp for almost three months ready to take in whoever they put in front of me,” Lipinets said. “We trained without any particular opponent. There were a few other guys who said they wanted to fight me. So we researched and prepared for all kinds of styles. And now we have the great news that I will play Figueroa this Saturday. I can’t wait to show everyone that I’m still a force to be reckoned with at 140 pounds. “
Ticket for the live stream is currently on sale and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com.
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