Junior welterweight contender Arthur Biyarslanov gained valuable experience with his win over Sergey Lipinets.
Biyarslanov won a 10-round unanimous decision over the former belt holder Lipinets on October 30 at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, but things got challenging late in the fight. Biyarslanov is tentatively set to return on February 5, Eye of the Tiger Management card headlined by light heavyweight Albert Ramirez against Lerrone Richards.
Biyarslanov, 20-0 (16 KOs), has only gone 73 rounds in his 20 fights as a professional. Many of his wins have come by way of knockout, with him controlling the pace of the fight and being able to fight comfortably. Against Lipinets, 18-5-1 (13 KOs), that wasn’t the case.
“It was a learning experience,” Samuel Decarie-Drolet, the trainer of Biyarslanov, told BoxingScene. “He has been in the ring with good fighters, but never a fighter as experienced with high-level fights like Lipinets.”
Lipinets, a 36-year-old fighter from Kazakhstan who resides in Woodland Hills, California, is a former IBF junior welterweight titleholder. He has fought Mikey Garcia, Jaron “Ennis” Boots, and Michel Rivera. He stopped Lamont Peterson and holds a win over Omar Figueroa. Lipinets’ two stoppage losses came against Adam Azim and Ennis, and both occurred at welterweight, a weight class higher than this bout was.
“Arthur hurt him multiple times in the fight,” Decarie-Drolet said. “Every time you hurt Lipinets, he is going to sit on his back leg and be ready to throw a bomb. He is a good puncher who can carry his power throughout all the rounds.”
Two other things made the fight difficult. Biyarslanov, a 30-year-old Russian fighter who trains in Toronto, Canada, is a southpaw, and Lipinets is an orthodox fighter. With the stance variation, head clashes can occur, and they did, leaving Biyarslanov with damage that he hadn’t experienced in any previous fight.
Also, Lipinets loads up on big power shots, especially his right hand, as he carries his power late into fights. Biyarslanov didn’t get reckless looking for a finish and was well in control in the first half of the fight, even flooring Lipinets in the third round, yet it was the last two rounds where Biyarslanov showed signs of fatigue from a hard fight.
“At a certain point, Arthur wanted to take him out,” Decarie-Drolet said.
Lipinets’ commitment to landing a big telling blow, combined with some head clashes, had Biyarslanov facing adversity he had not previously faced. Biyarslanov, who is ranked in the top five of two of the major sanctioning bodies, had to show his determination.
“At the end, he had to dig deep to finish the fight like a champion,” Decarie-Drolet said. “If you always win inside the first six rounds, you don’t learn so much. Now, he had to control the fight, control the headbutt, control the cut, control a guy who keeps coming forward…it was the experience that he needed.”
