Adam Azim looked down at the scale in disbelief.
Shortly after former IBF 140-pound titlist Sergey Lipinets was a full pound over the junior welterweight limit, the final scale reading revealed that Azim was also off the mark. The 22-year-old rising contender was a few ounces from the 140-pound contracted weight for their scheduled 12-round main event.
Both fighters came correct within the prescribed two-hour period, each weighing 140 pounds on the dot.
Sky Sports and Peacock+ will air their crossroads bout live this Saturday from OVO Arena Wembley in London.
Azim (12-0. 9 KOs) is coming off his most impressive performance to date. The rising contender from Slough, Berkshire, put away countryman Ohara Davies in the eighth round of their Oct. 19 battle at Copper Box Arena in Hackney Wick.
The fight was made after failed attempts for domestic-level fights versus Dalton Smith and Harlem Eubank. Azim rose to the occasion and twice floored Davies, the latter for the full count to register his third straight knockout victory.
Lipinets (18-3-1, 13 KOs) is in the twilight of his ten-year career but still a threat. The 35-year-old Kazakh boxer flashed the latter in a ten-round, unanimous decision win over Robbie Davies Jr. (24-5, 15 KOs) last May 8 in Plant City, Florida.
It was a much-needed win for Lipinets, who was previously edged by Michel Rivera (26-1, 14 KOs) in their Nov. 2023 clash in Las Vegas. The win-one, lose-one run has left the former titleholder at just 2-2-1 in his last five starts.
Below are the weights for the remaining undercard bouts.
Callum Simpson (16-0, 11 KOs), Barnsley, Yorkshire, UK, 168 pounds vs. Elvis Ahorgah (13-2, 12 KOs), Accra, Ghana, 166 ½ pounds—12 rounds, super middleweight
Scott Forrest (7-0, 4 KOs), Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 201 pounds vs. Aurel Ignat (8-0, 7 KOs), Wembley, London, UK, 198 pounds—8 rounds, cruiserweight
Jeamie ‘TKV’ Tshikeva (7-1, 4 KOs), Tottenham, London, UK, 261 pounds vs. Michael Webster (10-2, 6 KOs), Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, 255 ½ pounds—10 rounds, heavyweight
Lucas Roehrig (1-0, 1 KO), London, UK, 197 ½ pounds vs. Milosav Savic (9-8-1, 7 KOs), Novi Sad, Serbia, 194 pounds—6 rounds, cruiserweight
Joel Kodua (7-0, 0 KOs) Dagenham, Essex, UK, 148 ½ pounds vs. Lloyd Germain (9-2, 1 KO), Cardiff, Wales, UK, 148 ½ pounds—8 rounds, welterweight
Alfie Clegg (10-0-1, 2 KOs), Guildford, Surrey, UK, 114 pounds vs. Sebastian Alejandro Castillo (7-4-1, 3 KOs), Buenos Aires, Argentina, 117 ½ pounds—10 rounds, junior bantamweight
Garan Croft (1-0, 1 KO), Crymych, Wales, UK, 155 ½ pounds vs. Dmitri Protkunas (8-16-1, 1 KO), Narva, Estonia, 156 ½ pounds—4 rounds, junior middleweight
Hassan Azim (7-0, 4 KOS), Slough, Berkshire, UK, 165 pounds vs. Jensen Irving (4-19-2, KOs), 163 pounds—4 rounds, super middleweight
Emmany Kalombo (18-1, 17 KOs), Johannesburg, South Africa, 153 ½ pounds vs. Sergio Garcia (7-6, 4 KOs), Tecolotlan, Mexico, 154 ½ pounds—6 rounds, junior middleweight
Jake Donovan is part of the U.S. team for The Ring. Follow Jake on X and Instagram.