Lipinets has gone 3-0-1 since the Garcia loss, a late replacement for the bout, to a draw

With the top end of the loaded welterweight division somewhat stalled out, Jaron Ennis is looking to inject a little life at 147 pounds and make a statement that he’s a title contender right now. Ennis will take the biggest step up of his career Saturday night when he faces rugged veteran Sergey Lipinets at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut (9 p.m. ET, Showtime).

Ennis (26-0, 24 KO) is coming off a disappointing fight with Chris van Heerden in December. Ennis was making easy work of van Heerden, but a clash of heads in the late stages of the opening round caused a nasty cut on the forehead of van Heerden, resulting in a doctor’s stoppage and a no contest.

Prior to that fight, Ennis had stopped 16 consecutive opponents while establishing himself as one of boxing’s elite prospects in a division where there is no shortage of big names.

In Lipinets (16-1, 12 KO), Ennis is facing the stiffest test of his career. Lipinets has only lost once in his career, a 2018 decision defeat to Mikey Garcia. Lipinets lost the IBF super lightweight championship in that fight, but came out as a more respected fighter than he had come in after forcing Garcia into arguably the toughest fight of his career to that point.

Lipinets has gone 3-0-1 since the Garcia loss, most recently battling Custio Clayton, a late replacement for the bout, to a draw. The Clayton fight was a reminder that Lipinets does have limitations as a fighter and is a step below the very strong elite tier at welterweight. Still, he’s a capable fighter who has a tendency to force fighters into uncomfortable situations and occasionally into wars that they may not have been expecting.

For as good as Lipinets is as at what he does, he’s a step below the top at 147 pounds. Ennis, meanwhile, possesses true elite skills. Ennis has speed, power, technique and intangibles that set him apart as a potential contender in one of the deepest divisions in boxing right now. Lipinets doesn’t have many avenues to victory unless he can somehow make Ennis so uncomfortable that Ennis is unable to utilize all the tools he has at his disposal. That doesn’t seem likely and this could be a surprisingly short night of work if Ennis gets rolling quickly, which he very frequently does.

In recent days Bath promoted former London Irish hero Neal Hatley to the role of head coach. Bath have also signed scrum-half Ben Spencer from Saracens and no-nonsense lock Will Spencer. But gone are Rhys Webb, Freddie Burns, Francois Louw and Tom Homer, with the full-back returning to Irish.

The Exiles have also added a huge number of international caps to their ranks, with former Argentina skipper Agustin Creevy joining up, alongside 100-cap Wallabies lock Rob Simmons. With Ireland back-rower Sean O’Brien also raring to get torn in for London Irish, they will be optimistic of a reversal of last year’s festive flop.

Bath: Anthony Watson; Samesa Rokoduguni, Jonathan Joseph, Josh Matavesi, Ruaridh McConnochie; Rhys Priestland, Ben Spencer; Lewis Boyce, Tom Dunn, Will Stuart, Josh McNally, Charlie Ewels (captain), Zach Mercer, Sam Underhill, Taulupe Faletau.

Replacements: Jack Walker, Beno Obano, Christian Judge, Elliott Stooke, Josh Bayliss, Will Chudley, Cmeron Redpath, Tom De Glanville

London Irish: Tom Parton; Ben Loader, Curtis Rona, Terrence Hepetema, Ollie Hassell-Collins; Paddy Jackson, Nick Phipps, Harry Elrington, Motu Matu’u, Sekope Kepu, Ben Donnell, George Nott, Matt Rogerson, Seán O’Brien (captain), Albert Tuisue.

Replacements: Matt Cornish, Will Goodrick-Clarke, Ollie Hoskins, Sebastian de Chaves, Blair Cowan, Ben Meehan, Theo Brophy Clews, Matt Williams.

It’s game day.

Bath Rugby are back at The Rec on Friday night in the quarter-final of the European Challenge Cup with silverware just three games away.

Standing in the way of the Blue, Black and White are Gallagher Premiership rivals London Irish.

Bath saw off Zebre 27-35 away in Parma last weekend to book their place in the last eight of the competition while London Irish also came back to beat Cardiff Blues 41-35 at the Brentford Community Stadium.

The two sides met just a couple of weeks ago in league action with the Exiles coming out on top 36-33 after visitors Bath lost Charlie Ewels and Tom Dunn to red cards. Club captain Ewels will be back this weekend, but hooker Dunn remains suspended as does winger Will Muir who was later suspended for a tip tackle in the course of the game.

Bath Rugby are now just three games away from some potential silverware in the European Challenge Cup with London Irish coming to The Rec tonight in the quarter-finals

Unfortunately once again there will be no fans permitted inside the ground due to the Covid-19 pandemic and international lockdown rules but of course the game is being shown live on TV and here are all the ways you can follow it.

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