Custio Clayton is impressed by Jaron Ennis’ physical attributes.

The unbeaten Canadian welterweight gives Sergey Lipinets a better chance than most to upset the gifted Philadelphia fighter on Saturday night, though. The 23-year-old Ennis is listed as at least an 8-1 favorite over Lipinets, but Clayton expects Lipinets to legitimately test Ennis in their 12-round welterweight fight at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

Clayton and Lipinets settled for a majority draw October 24 in their 12-round fight for the IBF interim 147-pound championship. The 33-year-old Clayton is convinced he decisively defeated Lipinets that night, yet he left Mohegan Sun Arena with a healthy respect for Lipinets’ strength and toughness.

“To be real, it’s actually an interesting fight,” Clayton told BoxingScene.com when asked about Ennis-Lipinets. “It’s a good fight. It’s a big step up for Jaron. I mean, I guess it’ll really show what he’s actually capable of. I think it’ll be a good fight for both of them. I do think a lot of people are sleeping on Lipinets, but I think he’s the type of fighter that will test Jaron. But I do see that Jaron is very athletic, he’s young and he can box, he switches. He does have more abilities, I think, than Lipinets.

“I feel Lipinets is someone that just likes to come forward. I showed everyone that’s what he likes to do. But at the end of the day, he’s a tough fighter. You can’t take nothing from him. And I do feel it’s a fight that’s really gonna test Jaron, so we’ll really see what he’s capable of.”

Clayton (18-0-1, 12 KOs) is most interested to see how Ennis performs during the second half of a 12-round fight.

Ennis (26-0, 24 KOs, 1 NC) has not boxed beyond the sixth round since he made his pro debut in April 2016. Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 KOs), a former IBF junior welterweight champion, has gone 10 rounds or more five times.

“Jaron really ain’t went rounds,” Clayton said. “He’s always dangerous in the early rounds. He wants to prove something, so he’ll come to fight. But Lipinets is a fighter that has never been stopped. He’s fought some very good fighters. Against Mikey Garcia, he got dropped and he was still able to come back and fight. So, I mean, you can see he’s able to take a punch as well. It’s one of these fights where if it goes later, that’s when we’ll have to see what Jaron actually does in the later rounds.

“From what I’ve seen, he ain’t really went past six, so it’s something to see – if it goes that long, how he actually switches and fights under the pressure. I do think Lipinets is one of them fighters that’s tough enough where if it goes past the sixth, where you ain’t really seen Jaron at, what can he really do there? We didn’t really see that yet, so that’s something we’ll be looking forward to seeing.”

Ennis-Lipinets will headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader, which will begin at 9 p.m. ET and 6 p.m. PT.

In the bout before Ennis encounters Lipinets, Lithuania’s Eimantas Stanionis (12-0, 9 KOs) and Puerto Rico’s Thomas Dulorme (25-4-1, 16 KOs) are set to meet in a 12-round WBA welterweight elimination match. This three-bout broadcast will start with a 12-round, 115-pound championship bout in which the Philippines’ Jerwin Ancajas (32-1-2, 22 KOs) will make a mandated defense of his IBF junior bantamweight championship against Mexico’s Jonathan Rodriguez (22-1, 16 KOs).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.