Adam Azim is fully focused on continuing his growth rather than impressing others when he fights Sergey Lipinets for the vacant IBO junior welterweight title at London’s Wembley Arena on Saturday night.

The 12 round fight will be televised by Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland and by Peacock in the USA.

Azim, 12-0 (9 KOs), is at the point in his career where every opponent is criticized, every performance scrutinised and every quote pulled apart and examined for hidden meanings.

Such is the depth of talent at 140lbs - both in Britain and internationally - that Azim is likely to spend the next few years being compared to other fighters but the 22 year-old has grown up in the spotlight and has learned not to pay too much attention to the opinions of those outside of his team.

Experience has taught the former European 140lb champion that the best way of furthering his cause is to turn up at the gym every day with the sole intention of improving his game. His rapid rise through the ranks has proven to him that as long he remains consistent and that the improvements he makes in the gym translate into the ring on fight night, everything else takes care of itself.

“I don't really care what other people say about me. My main focus is getting in the ring and putting on a great performance. Fighting and showing my class and my groove and everything,” he told The Ring.

"Because the last fight I had against Ohara Davies, most of the majority of people did say that Ohara Davies was going to win that fight. As soon as I beat Ohara, they said, ‘Oh, he's old.’

“Look, I knew that he's a great fighter. I'd been preparing really well for that fight and every fight I go into. I know I'm prepared so this is why I don't really care what other people think about how I am in the ring or how I performed or anything like that.

“It's because I know that I'm improving and developing as a fighter.

“The thing is, I think a lot of those people that have negative mindsets, they have something to say negative instead of positive. With myself, I always think of everything positive in my head.

“I think about positive mindsets. Whatever they say, I just suck it in and move on to the next one because at the end of the day, they're not the one who's getting in the ring.”

This weekend’s fight with Lipinets, 18-3-1 (13 KOs), is the perfect case in point.

The 35 year-old Kazakh is a respected name who won the IBF junior welterweight title back in 2017 and has has mixed in world class for the better part of a decade. This weekend he will be all but written off before the first bell rings.

Lipinets has only been beaten twice at 140lbs - by the brilliant Mikey Garcia back in 2018 and by rising star, Michel Rivera, in 2023. The only man to truly outclass him was Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. The current IBF welterweight champion stopped Lipinets in six rounds in 2021.

At this stage of Lipinets’ career it would be perfectly understandable - and expected - for him to struggle with Azim’s blistering hand speed but those who question just how much desire he has retained need only look at the lengths he pushed himself to during the ten round war he and Azim’s former gym mate, Robbie Davies Jnr, engaged in last May. Lipinets triumphed after one of the most entertaining battles of the year.

This may prove to be an outstanding piece of matchmaking on Team Azim’s part but it is still the toughest test of Azim’s young career.

“He's a very established name on the world scene. He's been in with good fighters like ‘Boots’ Ennis, Mikey Garcia and Lamont Pearson and [Custio] Clayton who was a great fighter as well. He's had that experience and I feel like it's my time to shine,” Azim said.

“He's a very rugged and very tough and strong opponent and when he does get hurt, he still ends up staying there and trying to fight. When you've got that heritage from Russia and Kazakhstan, they're very known to have a war and keep fighting. They want to get that victory. For myself, this is a very ideal fight where I show my class inside my mid-range where I'm using my feet.

“Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis showed the blueprint there because in that particular fight he was using his feet more than he was actually punching and he was setting up the punches.”