The junior welterweight division has been home to some of boxing’s major attractions in recent years and although the weight class is currently going through something of a changing of the guard, Adam Azim believes that the 140lb scene still offers plenty of star power.

On Saturday night, Azim, 12-0 (9 KOs), fights former IBF champion, Sergey Lipinets, 18-3-1 (13 KOs), at London’s Wembley Arena.

The world title picture is totally different than it was this time last year.

Last August, Jose Valenzuela started the revolution by upsetting Isaac ‘Pitbull’ Cruz to win the WBA title.

In December, the IBF title changed hands as Richardson Hitchins boxed his way to a split decision victory over tough Australian, Liam Paro,

The WBC’s decision to grant Devin Haney’s request to be declared Champion in Recess means that, on March 1st, Albert Puello and Sandor Martin will fight for the vacant WBC belt at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, and whilst Teofimo Lopez still holds the WBO title, Jack Catterall and Arnold Barboza Jnr will compete for the interim version of the belt at Manchester’s Co-Live Arena on February 15th.

On Saturday night, Azim’s British rival, Dalton Smith, brought a ten month hiatus from the ring to an end and reintroduced himself to boxing fans with a clinical first round stoppage of Walid Ouizza to win the vacant European title.

22 year-old Azim will capture the vacant fringe IBO title if he beat Lipinets live on Sky Sports this weekend and he thinks it is the perfect way to edge closer to the the division’s top names.

“Obviously Haney's gone up. Ryan Garcia’s gone up but you've still got the fights like Teofimo, he’s still there,” Azim told The Ring.

“You’ve got George Kambosos still in this. You've still got Richardson Hitchins. It's a very, very tough division and for me to win an IBO world title, that's a good way to put myself up and start the way to become a world champion.”

Beating a tough, respected veteran like Lipinets would be the best win of Azim’s young career but although he is focused on the task at hand, he has been paying close attention to goings on in the division.

Last month, Hitchins passed his own acid test and ascended into world class by relieving Paro of his IBF junior welterweight title.

The 27 year-old New Yorker is currently embroiled in negotiations about moving directly into an all-Brooklyn title unification with WBO champion, Lopez.

If that fight does get made, Azim believes Hitchins’ reign as a world champion could be a short one.

“I feel like Lopez can beat Richardson,” he said. “I don't think Richardson Hitchins is the greatest fighter but I think Teofimo can definitely beat him. He's got more experience and I think the fight against Liam Paro was an easy fight for him [Hitchins].”

Lopez has been strongly linked with a move to 147lbs and there is talk that the unification with Hitchins would be his last hurrah at junior welterweight.

Azim clearly respects Lopez but hasn’t forgotten the way he overlooked the threat posed by George Kambosos in November 2021. That lack of focus cost him his unified IBF and WBO titles.

“He [Lopez] is a very, very dangerous fighter but the mind in the fight against George Kambosos didn't really play a part as he was just going there trying to look for a knockout and then he ended up losing quite convincingly himself,” he said.