A search for a last-minute opponent for Sergey Lipinets is on after John Molina Jr. suffered a back injury.
According to Jake Donovan of Boxing Scene, Lipinets suffered the injury during fight week and has withdrawn from their welterweight contest set for July 20 in Las Vegas. The fight was going to be part of the four-fight pay-per-view broadcast headlined by Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman for the WBA welterweight title.
Alex Vaysfeld, Lipinets’ manager, told Boxing Scene that his fighter is ready to compete on July 20 but did not comment on Molina’s injury.
“We’re just thinking about Saturday night. Until we’re told otherwise, Sergey is ready to show on Saturday night all of the hard work he’s put in to prepare for this event,” Vaysfeld said.
It has been a tough 10 months for Molina ever since deciding to make the permanent jump to welterweight, a decision he was excited about when he spoke with Fightful last year. Molina, a former world title challenger at junior welterweight, was going to face Victor Ortiz in the main event of a PBC on FS1 card last year but the fight was canceled after Ortiz turned himself in to the Oxnard (California) Police Department and booked on three felony sexual assault charges just days before the event. Molina then face Omar Figueroa in February, Molina’s first bout since December 2017, and lost a 10-round decision.
As of this writing, the rest of the main card will go on as planned. In the opening bout, former bantamweight world champions Luis Nery and Juan Carlos Payano will face each other. Also featured on the main card are Figueroa and Yordenis Ugas fighting in a WBC welterweight title eliminator. Fightful will have live coverage of the entire event, including the FOX-televised prelim card that will feature Caleb Plant vs. Mike Lee for the IBF super middleweight title.
