Sergey Lipinets defeated Robbie Davies Jr on Pro Box TV’s Wednesday night fight show in Florida by unanimous decision. Scores of 95-92, 96-91 and 98-89 sealed the win for Lipinets, but the scores don’t tell half of the story.

Sergey Lipinets and Robbie Davies Jr served up a treat for watching fans at the Pro Box events centre on Wednesday night.

Fighting at a catchweight of 142 lbs, former IBF champion, Sergey Lipinets, and former British, Commonwealth and European champion, Davies Jr showed that neither were ready to slip out of the back door of the sport that means so much to them.

The first couple of rounds saw Lipinets moving forward behind a crisp jab and working his way into a groove, with Davies Jr boxing well on the back foot.

In the 3rd round, Davies Jr landed a left hook to the head that rocked Lipinets and had him in serious trouble. With only 10 seconds left in the round, Lipinets managed to survive the controlled barrage from Davies Jr, to make it back to his stool.

Davies Jr gave Lipinets another dose of a left hook to the head in round 4 that staggered the Russian. Again, Lipinets bravely got through the final 40 seconds of the round to enjoy the 1 minute recovery time in his corner.

Despite being in all types of trouble in the previous two rounds, Lipinets continued to come forward in round 5, landing lefts and rights, and decimated Robbie Davies Jr’s nose in the process.

Here’s where the fight turned, for the worse, for Davies Jr.

With blood smeared over his face from, what looked like, a broken nose, Davies Jr fell to the canvas following two overhand right hands from Lipinets. Getting up at the count of 7, with roles reversed, it was Robbie Davies Jr’s turn to see out the final part of a round, which he did.

Davies Jr, breathing heavily through his mouth due to the nose damage, his gumshield falling out at one point, did his best to stay out of trouble in rounds 6 and 7, but smelling blood, literally, Lipinets kept the pressure on.

The pressure told in round 8 as Davies Jr got dropped twice in the round, both times via left hooks to the body.

With his breath taken away, looking to Ant Crolla in his corner, Davies Jr got back on his feet both times. While it appeared that all was lost, incredibly, Davies Jr shook Lipinets to his boots near the end of the round with a left hook to the head. Once again, Lipinets refused to cave and survived the round.

Fighting on pure heart, the final two rounds followed the back and forth nature of the fight, but enough damage had already been applied by Lipinets.

Both fighters made it to the final bell, and the crowd, rightly, showed their admiration and appreciation.

We’ll see what’s next for Lipinets after this fully deserved win.

Before the fight, Robbie Davies Jr said he wanted peace of mind after having to retire in his previous fight due to a broken ankle.

Even in defeat, I’m sure he has.