British boxing prospect Adam Azim lived up the hype with an impressive performance in London on Saturday night.
Now with a record of 13-0, the 22-year-old was able to claim the vacant IBO World Super Lightweight title with a ninth-round stoppage of Sergrey Lipinets.
Lipinets came into the bout with a record of 18-3-1 and is a previous super lightweight world champion.
Azim’s finish over Lipinets was the 10th of his career and is proving himself to be one of the very best in as stacked division.
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Adam Azim’s uppercuts too much to handle for opponent
Azim was largely dominant throughout his performance against Lipinets, as he was seemingly a step ahead of the former world champion.
The first major moment of concern came in round three for Lipinents. Rushing on to the prospect, Lipinets was caught by a counter left hook, which sent the Kazakhstan fighter to the canvas.
Just about able to survive the round, Azim would continue to deal damage over the course of the following rounds.
Damage began to pile up on Lipinets as the fight developed, including Lipinets somehow remaining standing despite being punished in the eight round.
However, in round nine the referee decided he had seen enough. As huge uppercuts were a constant threat to Lipinets throughout the fight, they started to become too much to handle in what would be the final rounds.
As soon as the ninth round started, Azim fired off an arsenal of uppercuts, bloodying the face of his opponent even more. Somehow still standing, the referee felt Lipinets had taken enough punishment and called the fight.
Adam Azim suffered two-point deductions for low-blows
Although Azim was nothing short of impressive as he claimed the vacant title, he did have to deal with a two-point deduction in the fight.
Azim would receive his first deduction in round four, when a left hook to the body fell low of the mark. The low-blow resulted in a singular point deduction, before the same thing happened in round seven.
The same punch from the British fighter once again hit below the belt, resulting in the second point deduction for Azim. However, his stoppage victory meant the scorecards were not needed.
Azim went on to call out Dalton Smith after his impressive performance, who currently has a 17-0 record. However, Eddie Hearn has blasted Barry McGuigan’s comments about Smith, claiming that the coach does not want Azim to fight the fellow prospect.
Meanwhile coach McGuigan has said that Azim is close to names such as Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis, with the impressive performance on Saturday adding more substance to that claim.