MIKEY MARCHES ON
Jack Hirsch watches Garcia defeat plucky Lipinets to snare fourth major title
Sergey Lipinets cannot stop Garcia from becoming a four-weight world champion
MIKEY GARCIA won yet another world title, adding the IBF super-lightweight belt to his collection, defeating Russian Sergey
Lipinets by unanimous 12 round decision at the Freeman Coliseum (Ringstar Sports/ TGB Promotions). Judge Mark Calo-oy had it 116-112, Julie Lederman and Nelson Vazquez turned in cards of 117110. Laurence Cole arefereed.
For Garcia it was an impressive, but not overwhelming performance. As for Lipinets, despite losing his title and suffering his first professional defeat, he showed he could compete on the highest level - which many had doubted beforehand.
Lipinets pressed the action against his fellow California-based opponent. Garcia responded by scoring with a stream of jabs followed by right hands. The defending champion tried to stay low, but Garcia was still able to penetrate his defence regularly.
Lipinets was trying to make it a physical fight forcing Garcia to the ropes in the fifth and attacking his body. Garcia pumped his fist at the end of each round, but Lipinets was throwing left hooks and gaining in confidence. However, his momentum was stopped midway through the seventh when Garcia landed a counter left hook that dropped Lipinets for the first time in his career.
Lipinets right eye was partially closed but he never gave in, moving forward and looking for the knockout that his trainer Buddy Mcgirt told him he needed to retain the title. And over the last few rounds a left hook would rock Garcia on occasion, but the equaliser required was nowhere to be found.
Both fought the final round like they needed that knockout, and both landed left hooks simultaneously. An overhand right made Garcia blink, but he wasn’t going to fall.
“Two or three more fights and I will move up to the welterweight division for sure,” Garcia projected. As a promotional free agent it might be difficult for Garcia to obtain a mega fight, but the thought of him squaring off with the likes of Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jnr, among others, is salivating to say the least.
At 140lbs, Kiryl Relikh won the vacant WBA strap with a dominating 12-round decision over former twoweight champion Rances Barthelemy. Judge Rafael Ramos had it 117-110. Cesar Ramos and Alfredo Polanco 118-109 respectively.
This was a rematch of the disputed decision that Barthelemy was given the last time out, but there could be no doubt in this one as the Belarus fighter applied all the pressure. The Cuban, who resides in Las Vegas, was tentative as round after round slipped away. Relikh attacked to the head and body, his strength as much a factor as his timing.
When it became apparent that Barthelemy would need a knockout to win, he resorted to less than sporting tactics, hitting below the belt. In the seventh round referee Luis Pabon deducted a point. Then, with a mere five seconds left in the fight, time was called when Barthelemy went extraordinarily low.
Barthelemy fought very timidly until the later rounds, but by then he had gotten himself into a massive hole that only landing a fight-altering punch could get him out of. In the 10th he went for broke, but Relikh was up to the task. At the end of the day he seemed to want to win a lot more than Barthelemy did.
Richard Commey put himself back into the lightweight title picture with an impressive sixth round stoppage of Californian Alejandro Luna in their scheduled 10. At the time of the stoppage Commey led 49-46 on two scorecards and 48-47 on the other.
Commey, tall and rangy, started quickly and was keeping Luna at the end of a jab, scoring heavily with long rights. Commey then started to tire a bit and Luna’s pressure seemed to be paying dividends. Commey though, regrouped.
In the sixth he dropped Luna who was up at nine, spit out his mouthpiece and was rightfully deducted a point by referee David Fields.
A moment later it became irrelevant as a left hook dropped Luna onto his back and it was immediately stopped. The time was 1-54. Luna was taken to the hospital afterward for suspicion of a broken jaw.
Mario Barrios from San Antonio, halted the Dominican Republic’s Eudy Bernardo at 45 seconds of the second round of a scheduled 10. When Bernardo got up from a knockdown he stumbled back to the ropes and referee Jon Schorle stopped it.
THE VERDICT Another title for Garcia but defining fight still elusive.