ADAM Azim takes another little step up in levels on Saturday evening when he takes on Sergey Lipinets in Wembley Arena. While Lipinets has seen better days, he represents a tough challenge for the 22-year-old and likely rejects the kind of gatekeeper tag assigned to him.
Speaking to Sky Sports Boxing, former world champion George Groves says that despite Azim’s clear talent and upward trajectory, Lipinets will not be intimidated, given the esteemed company he has kept in the past.
“As good as this guy [Azim] is, he [Lipinets] ain’t gonna be scared of you at the weekend because he’s been in there with Mikey Garcia, he’s been there with ‘Boots’ Ennis, he’s been in there with scary guys already,” cautioned Groves, who commended the fight as good matchmaking.
As Azim moves through the rankings, that matchmaking balance between tough tests and impossible tasks becomes more delicate.
Names like Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, Ryan Garcia and Devin Haney are starting to be mentioned for Azim, whose domestic rival Dalton Smith passed his EBU title test at the weekend.
Azim respected Smith’s finish but was unimpressed by opponent Walid Ouizza. Adam has his sights set on one of the world-level names discussed by Sky Boxing. Would he entertain an evening with ‘The Dream’?
“Yeah, of course, like when you said Haney, I’ll take a fight with Haney any day, so yeah,” agreed Azim, who went on to close the gap between him, Gervonta and Ryan while he was at it.
“I’m not far apart from them. I want to get to the same level as them, that’s my ambition and my goal. They’ve been up there and they’ve got massive names.
“I want to keep developing, keep working as a world class fighter and get myself up there as well.”
