FORMER WORLD CHAMPION SERGEY LIPINETS AND UNBEATEN CUSTIO CLAYTON FIGHT TO MAJORITY DRAW IN SHOWTIME MAIN EVENT SATURDAY NIGHT

October 25, 2020 – Former world champion *Sergey Lipinets *and unbeaten *Custio
Clayton *fought to a majority draw Saturday night in a welterweight clash
headlining action live on SHOWTIME*®* from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville,
Conn. in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.

Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 KOs) and Clayton (18-0-1, 12 KOs) each added the first
draw of their professional careers in the 12-round SHOWTIME BOXING: SPECIAL
EDITION battle for the Interim IBF Welterweight Title. One judge scored the
fight 115-113 for Clayton, but was overruled by the two judges who scored
the bout a 114-114 draw. *(Round six video highlights here: *
*https://twitter.com/ShowtimeBoxing/status/1320209815503839234?s=20*
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*)*

“I thought I won the fight, but Clayton is a good fighter,” said Lipinets.
“He was stronger than I thought he’d be. I haven’t fought in a year and it
shows. I need to get my rhythm back in a couple of fights before I face the
top level fighters.”

“At the end of the day, you can’t knock the judges’ decision, but I thought
that I landed the cleaner shots and won,” said Clayton. “He came forward a
lot, but he wasn’t landing as much. I probably could have pushed more a
little earlier, but at the same time, I knew he was strong. I thought I
stayed patient and poised. I could have put combinations together quicker,
but overall I thought I fought a smart fight and pulled it off.”

The fight was defined by the Russian Lipinets’ blistering body attack
against the precision of the Canadian Olympian Clayton’s jab. According to
CompuBox, Lipinets out landed Clayton to the body by an 80 to 29 tally,
while Clayton had the superior jab to the tune of 135 landed compared to 68
from Lipinets.

Clayton was able to stymie the powerful Lipinets for much of the fight with
his movement and that jab, but never put together the offensive arsenal to
discourage Lipinets from coming forward. Clayton won the final three rounds
on all of the judges’ cards to earn the draw.

“I showed the world that I’m not just a guy from Canada,” said Clayton. “I
proved I’m a good fighter. People will have to respect me a little bit
more. If Lipinets wants the rematch for the interim title, we should be
able to make that happen.”

“For the interim title, I’ll be ready for a rematch with Clayton,” added
Lipinets.

In the co-main event, unbeaten contender *Xavier Martinez *(16-0, 11 KOs)
survived two knockdowns to win a unanimous decision over *Claudio
Marrero *(24-5,
17 KOs) in their WBA Super Featherweight Title Eliminator. After 12 rounds,
all three judges scored the fight for Martinez, by scores of 115-111 and
114-112 twice. *(Video highlights here: *
*https://twitter.com/ShowtimeBoxing/status/1320198274733715457?s=20*
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*)*

“Not every win is going to be pretty and a knockout, but if you can pull
yourself out of tough situations, it proves what type of fighter you are,”
said Martinez. “I knew it wasn’t going to be a cakewalk. I told [trainer]
Ray [Woods] I might hit this guy a couple of times and he might not drop.
It’s all part of the experience.”

The fight featured ebbs and flows, with each man seemingly in control at
different times throughout. Sacramento’s Martinez flashed impressive
combination punching, punctuating many attacks with a left hook that slowly
closed Marrero’s right eye. Representing his native Dominican Republic,
Marrero actually held the statistical edge in the fight, out landing
Martinez 161 to 128.

Marrero seemed to change the tide of the fight in round eight, landing a
powerful right hook to the head that dropped Martinez in the first minute
of the frame. Marrero followed up with a flurry finished off by a right
hook that again dropped Martinez. Despite the two knockdowns, Martinez was
able to survive the rest of the round and avoid the hard-charging Marrero.

“To be honest, it was weird when I got knocked down,” said Martinez. “I
just said, ‘Let’s get back up.’ Losing wasn’t on my mind. I just thought I
have to get up. I’m not happy I went down but it’s all an experience. A lot
of guys wouldn’t have fought Claudio. He was tough. But I rose to the
occasion and I proved something to myself.”

Although he was fighting past the eighth round for the first time in his
career, Martinez was able to regain his momentum through the championship
rounds to clinch the victory.

“I feel like it was a bad decision,” said Marrero. “I don’t think the
judges took into account all the hard work I did in the ring. I wouldn’t do
anything different if I fought him again. I would fight the same way. I
fought smart and I put pressure on him. He hits hard, but I recovered
quickly. I felt like I won the fight.”

“I have the will to win,” said Martinez. “I just didn’t want to lose. I
trained very hard for this fight, and I wasn’t going to go out like that. I
wanted to show everyone that even though I got dropped, I could come back
and win it. Some young fighters will fold, but I showed that I won’t. I’m
proud of myself.”

In the telecast opener, super lightweight contender *Subriel Matias *(16-1,
16 KOs) scored a TKO victory over *Malik Hawkins *(18-1, 11 KOs) after six
rounds of action. The fight was stopped on the recommendation of the
ringside physician prior to the start of the seventh round and is
officially scored a TKO one second into the seventh. *(Video highlights
here: **https://twitter.com/ShowtimeBoxing/status/1320182196079071232?s=20*
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*)*

“The biggest difference between this fight and my loss was the way I
trained in the gym,” said Puerto Rico’s Matias. “I didn’t train as much as
I should have for my last fight. Malik didn’t have the power to hurt me. In
the first round, I knew that. And that’s when I kept moving forward and
starting hurting him in the body. That’s what I kept doing, just going to
the body.”

After Baltimore’s Hawkins won the first round on all three judges’ cards,
Matias began to outwork his opponent and consistently land his left hook to
the head and body. In round six, Matias knocked down a fading Hawkins with
that hook, the first time Hawkins had been down in his career.

Matias was the busier fighter from rounds two through six, landing 137
punches to Hawkins’ 94. His left hook also helped him to a 122 to 70
advantage in power punches landed, while swelling the right eye of Hawkins
that would lead to the end of the fight. Matias led by the score of 59-54
on all three judges’ cards at the time of the stoppage.

“He was doing a bunch of dirty things in the fight,” said Hawkins. “I’m not
going to sit here and cry over spilled milk. He was the better man tonight.
I’m getting right back into the gym.”

“I’ll fight anyone,” said Matias. “Whoever they put in front of me, it
doesn’t matter. I want a title eliminator, and then I want to fight for a
world title.”

Saturday’s *SHOWTIME BOXING: SPECIAL EDITION* telecast will replay on
Monday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME.

An industry leading production team and announce crew delivered all the
sights, sounds and drama from Mohegan Sun Arena. Veteran broadcaster Brian
Custer hosted the telecast. Versatile combat sports voice Mauro Ranallo
called the action ringside alongside Hall of Fame analyst Al Bernstein and
three-division world champion and Olympian Abner Mares providing expert
analysis. Two Hall of Famers rounded out the SHOWTIME telecast team –
unofficial ringside scorer Steve Farhood and world-renowned ring announcer
Jimmy Lennon Jr. The telecast was available in Spanish via Secondary Audio
Programming (SAP) with former world champion Raul Marquez and sportscaster
Alejandro Luna calling the action. The Executive Producer was David
Dinkins, Jr., the Producer was Ray Smaltz and the Director was Chuck McKean.

The event was promoted by TGB Promotions, Lee Baxter Promotions and
Mayweather Promotions.

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