There was something delightfully dangerous about the way in which Adam Azim became only the second man to stop Sergey Lipinets on Saturday night (February 1) at Wembley Arena. Docked not one but two points for low blows, he was relentless in spite of the reprimand and refused to calm down when both the referee, and indeed his opponent, were hoping he would. As a result, Azim in the end got what he wanted: the stoppage.
Watching Azim there was of course the fear that he might get it wrong and that he might throw one too many low blows and find himself thrown out of the fight. Yet the overriding feeling was one more of admiration, for it was rather exciting to see a young boxer stick to his guns despite all the warnings.
Not quite reckless, he was just committed, that’s all. He was determined that this ploy, as dangerous as it was, would ultimately get the job done and he seemed, at times, like a child warned against sticking their head between the fence posts for fear of it getting stuck only to continue doing it, incentivised by the danger of being told off. In this case, Azim stayed close to Lipinets instead of getting away, and he also remained loyal to his body attack, convinced that by continuing this strategy it would lead to the erosion of Lipinets’s resolve.
On that count he was proved right. For although much of the damage done to the tough Kazakh in the final rounds was to the head, particularly via uppercuts, a lot of the early investments were made to the Lipinets body. This was what had the former IBF champion balled up when on the inside and thus more susceptible to being nailed with the uppercut, which is a shot Azim happens to throw as well as anyone in Great Britain. In fact, it was that shot, the uppercut, that eventually broke Lipinets in round nine; a round in which Azim started by throwing only right uppercuts before then switching to left uppercuts and finishing with a right. Azim’s left arm, at the time of the stoppage, was covered in Lipinets’ blood.
“My performance was great,” he said after the fight. “I could have dropped the pace a bit in the earlier rounds, but Shane [McGuigan, his trainer] goes: ‘Keep calm, you’re going to catch him.’
“For the knockdown I didn’t even know I’d hit him. That was just so quick. I had to be patient. To be world class you have to be patient to do your work.”
The word “patience” is an interesting one in the context of both Adam Azim’s career and his approach to fights. At 22, the man from Slough has every right to be patient and take his time, but has, it could be argued, moved at a decent pace for a 13-fight pro. He has already won the European junior welterweight title, a belt he just as soon relinquished, and has also now beaten, in Lipinets, his first former world champion. There is, on the face of it, no need to rush him, or make him run before he can walk, yet Azim appears the type to relish a challenge – and rise to it – rather than play it safe and avoid them. It is perhaps for that reason he continues to mention Dalton Smith, his main UK rival, and why, despite being five years Smith’s junior, he expresses an interest – at least publicly – in soon making that fight a reality. Whether it actually happens or not, and whether he actually wants it or not, is another thing, but the suggestion from Azim is that he intends to keep motoring at this kind of pace and to not let patience mean stagnation or be misconstrued as fear.
In many ways, you saw a microcosm of this approach on Saturday in the way Azim fought. There was danger in agreeing to fight a man as experienced and well-schooled as Lipinets in the first place, and there was then even more danger when Azim threatened to beat himself by straying low in all the excitement of trying to stop Lipinets. Suddenly, having looked so dominant and comfortable, we had jeopardy and a very real chance of it all going wrong for Azim. The moment called for calm, not chaos. It also called for patience.
And yet, though aware of the need for both, Azim was just as aware of the fact he had his man hurt, overwhelmed, and seemingly on the brink of yielding to his uppercuts and body attack. Caught between two trains of thought, he now had a decision to make and in the end decided to back himself to complete the mission without (a) veering from his plan and (b) striking out. That he then achieved this is a testament to not only his maturity but his ability to stay calm amid the chaos.
As usual, it was a methodical, machine-like performance from Azim and already, at 22, he seems well-oiled. He throws each shot with a crispness, often in combination, and does so at a speed unmatched by every super lightweight he has so far encountered. There will, it’s true, be quicker and better ones opposing Azim in time, but for now Azim, 13-0 (10), is two steps ahead of everybody he fights. Not only that, he fights with an urgency which almost borders on contempt; contempt for having to hang around and remain patient.
Sometimes, so instinctive is his punching and so rat-a-tat-tat are his combinations, you wonder if he is prone to acting before thinking in the manner of his hero, Amir Khan. Yet Azim, unlike Khan, appears to have a robustness which allows him to stand in range and take chances without the risk of his combinations opening the door for opponents to land something of their own and change the course of the fight. Also, even if he should throw before thinking, the speed at which Azim throws punches is enough to distract from any thoughts of counterpunching his opponent might have at that precise moment.
Time will tell whether this frenetic style of Azim’s proves to be a success at the higher level, as Khan’s was, but it is refreshing nonetheless to see a prospect in 2025 eager to not waste his – or our – time. Some patience will be required, yes, both in terms of how he fights and how he is matched, yet there is a growing sense with Azim that his body and mind move at a speed the rest of us must try to match rather than slow down.
Let him go, in other words. If he strays low, he strays low. These, after all, are the lessons a boxer must learn and the risks a boxer must take.
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