Showtime has announced its pre-pay-per-view freestream line-up prior to broadcast set for Saturday, November 25th. The action will be topped by former 140-pound champion Sergey Lipinets (pictured) taking on Michel Rivera in a ten-round contest, plus Vito Mielnicki Jr. facing Mexico’s Alexis Salazar in a ten-round junior middleweight attraction. The stream will begin at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT and be available on the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Showtime Boxing Facebook page. The show will be hosted by Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell. The pay-per-view will be headlined by David Benavidez vs. Demetrius Andrade for the WBC interim super middleweight title at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
Lipinets (17-2-1, 13 KOs) will look for another victory on his road to re-claiming a 140-pound world title. After a decorated kickboxing career, Lipinets began boxing professionally in 2014, eventually capturing a world championship with a November 2017 unanimous decision over Akihiro Kondo. Originally from Kazakhstan and now fighting out of Southern California, Lipinets dropped the title in a 2018 clash against four-division champion Mikey Garcia before making a run at welterweight. At 147 pounds, Lipinets stopped former champion Lamont Peterson and challenged current top welterweight Jaron Ennis unsuccessfully in April 2021. Most recently, Lipinets returned to 140 pounds to stop former title holder Omar Figueroa Jr. in the eighth round in August 2022.
Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and now training out of Massachusetts, Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs) burst onto the scene in 2019, making his United States debut with a victory over Rene Tellez Giron on ShoBox: The New Generation. The 25-yea -old continued his ascent with five more victories in 2020 and 2021, before beginning 2022 with triumphs over Joseph Adorno and Jerry Perez. Rivera’s momentum was halted in his last outing, as he dropped a showdown between then unbeaten lightweights, losing a decision to Frank Martin in December 2022. He will now debut at 140-pounds seeking to get back on track toward a world title.
Representing Roseland, New Jersey, Mielnicki (15-1, 10 KOs) has shown improved power in recent outings, stopping three of his last four opponents, including a highlight-reel KO of Jose Sanchez Charles in April. This victory was Mielnicki’s second of the year, as he stopped Omar Rosales in four rounds in January. The 21-year-old first turned heads during his exceptional amateur career where he compiled a 147-22 record and was named the Most Outstanding Boxer of the 2011 Junior National Golden Gloves, amongst many accolades before turning pro.
Originally from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and now fighting out of Norwalk, Calif., Salazar (25-5, 10 KOs) put together a 15-fight winning streak between 2015 and 2020, eventually earning a shot against top middleweight Carlos Adames that he lost in June 2021. The 28-year-old has won two out of three fights since that outing, including a decision loss to unbeaten Xander Zayas in December 2022. Most recently, Salazar stopped David Rangel in the fifth round of their June showdown.
The non-televised undercard will see Panama’s Pablo Vicente (23-1, 17 KOs) battling Tajikistan’s Muhammadkhuja Yaqubov (20-1, 11 KOs) in a ten-round super featherweight bout, Mayweather Promotions’ Curmel Moton (1-0, 1 KO) in a four-round super featherweight showdown against Memphis-native Hunter Turbyfill (3-0, 1 KO), plus Milwaukee-native Daniel Blancas (7-0, 4 KOs) meets Texas’ Raiko Santana (10-3, 6 KOs) in an eight-round super middleweight bout.
Rounding out the lineup is lightweight Jabin Chollet (8-0, 7 KOs) stepping in for an eight-round bout; a six-round junior welterweight showdown pitting Israel Mercado (9-1-1, 7 KOs) against Wesley Rivers (4-3), plus welterweight Alex Holley (1-0) dueling Las Vegas’ Allen Medina (0-1) in a four-round fight.
