by Tamas Pradarics
Julius Indongo’s name has been in central position in boxing fraternity since April 15 when the IBF/IBO champion dethroned WBA junior welterweight titlist Ricky Burns in a unification bout with an impressive 12-round unanimous decision in Glasgow, Scotland.
Fans all over the globe had been anxious to see an all inclusive, six-belt unification bout at 140 pounds between WBA/IBF/IBO king Indongo and WBC/WBO/Ring champion Terence Crawford until the IBF cooled the air with a statement about an immediate mandatory bout between the Namibian titleholder and his #1 contender, Sergey Lipinets.
The undefeated Russian instantly started to throw harsh words in the way of Indongo to create some buzz around the matchup.
Alex Vaysfeld, manager of Lipinets hinted a rumor that the Namibian world champion is likely going to vacate his IBF belt instead of facing his hard-hitting fighter.
BoxingScene.com has recently reached out to Indongo’s manager, Nestor Tobias to get his thoughts about the mandatory situation.
”We are aware that according to IBF rules we would have to face [Lipinets] as mandatory challenger, we will respect that decision and engage the IBF at an appropriate time. [However], even before the Burns fight, we were already in talks with Top Rank’s Carl Moretti about a possible unification fight [with Crawford],” said Nestor.
”Those talks are still very much alive with other exciting possibilities as well. The world wants to see such a unification because it will be great for boxing. Nothing stops us from picking Crawford or any other fighter as our next opponent. We have three belts which we earned and we will pick the opponent that we want to fight, and that is exactly what will happen.”
Nestor discussed they are currently monitoring options for Julius’s next move.
”We have partnered with Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn on Indongo’s next fight and we are busy studying all the possibilities. One thing is for sure, we will not be forced into a Lipinets fight, we will do what is best for Indongo and in the best interest of boxing and the fans,” stated the manager.
Tobias has pointed out he does not care about the Russian fighter’s loud messages that appeared in the media towards Indongo.
”Lipinets has been talking a lot, started trash talking Indongo already, but we will not entertain him. Indongo is where he is because he earned it, [Sergey] must go out there and make a name for himself, not ride on our name,” concluded Tobias.
