ROBBIE DAVIES JR will cross the pond for his next fight and does so with a new trainer.
The 34-year-old Liverpudlian faces former IBF super-lightweight champion Sergey Lipinets on May 8 at the ProBox TV Events Centre in Plant City, Florida. Defeat for Davies Jr could bring the curtain down on an 11-year career.
Lipinets, 17-3-1 (13), and Davies Jr, 23-4 (15), will fight at a catchweight of 143lbs in the main event scheduled for 10 rounds.
“I only want to go into proper fights,” Davies Jr told Boxing News.
“You’re not gonna get more proper than him [Lipinets]. The winner goes on and the loser… well, if I lose I’d probably call it [a day] then. But I’m not planning on losing.”
Travelling to America with the Scouser will be popular Manc Anthony Crolla who has been training the former British and European 140lbs champion over the last few months. Shane McGuigan had been in the corner previously but Davies Jr is looking to be closer to his young family instead of travelling a greater distance to London to train.
Davies Jr’s next fight will end over a year’s absence from the ring. After suffering a loss to Gabriel Gollaz Venezuela in February 2021 he rebounded with three wins before facing Darragh Foley in Liverpool 13 months ago. However, any hopes of a home win were dashed in the third round when the Englishman’s leg gave way. This had been the result of a sickening leg and ankle injury in the previous session after being dropped by Foley. Eventually he was taken to Aintree Hospital where he underwent surgery.
Lipinets, meanwhile, will be looking to rebound from his second loss in three fights after Michel Rivera got the better of the Kazakh five months ago. The 35-year-old has also suffered defeats to top talents Jaron Ennis and Mikey Garcia and represents a stiff test for Davies Jr at this latter stage of his career. Lipinets only world title win came in November 2017 when he outpointed Akhiro Kondo to win the vacant 10-stone IBF strap. His reign was short, however, after Mikey Garcia made light work of “Samurai” winning wide on points in March 2018.