MOSCOW (TASS) — Russian welterweight boxer Sergey Lipinets is set to fight this fall against Uzbekistan’s Kudratillo Abdukakhorov for the champion’s belt of the International Boxing Federation (IBF), Lipinets’ longtime manager, Alex Vaysfeld, told TASS on Thursday.

Kudratillo Abdukakhorov

Abdukakhorov, who is currently residing in Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur, has zero defeats in his professional boxing career. He last fought in October 2019 against Luis Collazo of the United States.

Russia’s 31-year-old Lipinets, nicknamed Samurai, holds a professional boxing record of 16 wins (12 by KOs) and one defeat, while his 26-year-old opponent from Uzbekistan, nicknamed ‘The Punisher,’ has booked 17 wins (nine by KOs).

Last April, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) has put on hold all of its activities until mid-June over the COVID-19 pandemic. According to its president there would be no sense in organizing major boxing fights without fans in attendance.