ADAM AZIM is at the beginning of a pivotal period in his career.
Tomorrow night at The OVO Arena in London Azim can pick up the IBO super-lightweight belt – a smaller piece of the cake but a bargaining chip nonetheless – which can lead to much bigger opportunities.
‘The Assassin’ must first battle a ‘Samurai’ and if Azim allows himself to be drawn into the type of fight Sergey Lipinets enjoys (like the one against Robbie Davies Jr) then Azim will have to answer questions not yet posed by previous opponents.
Azim, 22, explained to Boxing News how he can prevent that from happening against the 35-year-old former world champion.
“I think I’m very mature to not do that.
“I’m very switched on and I’ve been working in camp really well. So if he wants to go, I can fight inside, I can fight long range, I can fight mid-range. I’m capable of fighting any scenario.
“I know that he is a very rugged and strong Kazakhstani so he would love to have a fight. For me, I end up boxing and using my brain instead of getting into a fight where I don’t need to. The more I get into a fight, the more reckless I’ll become. It’s easier for me to get the knockout if I end up boxing really well.”
So what does Azim, 12-0 (9 KOs), believe to be the main dangers against someone he describes as “rugged and strong?”
“He’s a good, thumpy puncher. He can definitely punch very strong. I know that I have a lot of armoury in my skills so I know that I can perform really well and if he wants to come at me like that then come at me because I know that I’m levels above him.”
Having spent eight months out of the ring in 2024 Azim knows that in 2025 the onus is on him to excel, fight regularly and remind everyone why he is so highly thought of by trainer Shane McGuigan and promoter Ben Shalom.
In October Azim ended his period on the sidelines by knocking out his friend Ohara Davies. The fallen contender had not so long ago been signed by Golden Boy Promotions and was building himself up to a world title shot. But defeats to veteran Ismael Barroso and then young gun Azim ended the controversial career of ‘Two Tanks’.
“I thought that was probably one of the best performances in my career,” Azim said.
“I thought I did really, really well. I thought I put on a great, great performance and Ohara Davies was, you know, still fresh, he was still dangerous and he was coming to win. So it was a good test for me.”
Azim describes 2025 as the year where he takes himself on to the “world class stage”. The Slough fighter is confident in following the likes of Carl Frampton, Josh Taylor and Chris Billam-Smith who have been moulded by Shane McGuigan into world champions. Gym-mate Caroline Dubois has joined them with her WBC lightweight title but Azim is yet to enter any of the four top 15 world rankings.
Beating Lipinets, however, will boost his own résumé and if he were to do so quicker than Jaron Ennis did – by sixth round knockout – in 2021 then that would represent the perfect start to a year where he hopes to prove he, and not Dalton Smith or Harlem Eubank, is the leading man at 140lbs in the UK.
“It’d be lovely if I can get him out in one to three rounds because then I’ve obviously stopped him quicker than Ennis and if I stop him quicker then it puts me out there. It’s a statement,” Azim said.
“I know that the way I’m going right now is only one way and that’s up. So even if it puts me up to world level, I can’t go back down, I’ve got to go up.”
“By the end of the year I should be in some big massive fights,” he added.
“I’m willing to fight anyone and I never back down. It’s always a matter of timing but this year is probably going to put myself into the world top 10.”
