Unlike lots of other welterweights, Sergey Lipinets didn’t shy away from an offer to fight Jaron Ennis.

The undefeated Philadelphia native previously had difficulty finding an established 147-pound contender willing to face him. Lipinets, however, views his 12-round fight versus Ennis as a high-risk, high-reward opportunity that could move him back into position to fight for a world title.

The 32-year-old Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 KOs), a former IBF junior welterweight champion, will encounter Ennis (26-0, 24 KOs, 1 NC) on April 10 in the main event of a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Kazakhstan’s Lipinets explained his rationale for fighting Ennis during a virtual press conference Friday.

“Well, ultimately, we all wanna become champions of the world,” Lipinets said. “And this is one way to do it, to fight guys who will put you in a position that you can’t be denied anymore. That’s the bottom line. You know, Jaron is not a boogeyman. He’s just another fighter with two hands and two feet. That’s what we’re doing, we’re fighting.”

Lipinets cited the multidimensional Ennis’ willingness to engage as one of the things that made him an appealing opponent.

“We’ve watched Jaron fight,” Lipinets said. “And definitely, this is the guy that will not shy away. He will not try to stay on the outside and be cute. He will come and he will fight. That’s one of the appealing things [to us], that we like. So, you know, that’s definitely gonna be the fight of the night, no questions about it.”

The 23-year-old Ennis’ last fight resulted in a no-contest because an accidental clash of heads caused a cut on the forehead of Chris van Heerden (28-2-1, 12 KOs, 1 NC) that prevented the South African southpaw from continuing in the first round. Lipinets settled for a majority draw with Canada’s Custio Clayton (18-0-1, 12 KOs) in his last fight, a 12-rounder for the IBF interim welterweight title October 24 at Mohegan Sun Arena.

Lipinets has lost only to four-division champion Mikey Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs), who won a 12-round unanimous decision over Lipinets in March 2018 at Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio.

Showtime will air two bouts before Ennis-Lipinets on April 10.

In the co-feature, Lithuania’s Eimantas Stanionis (12-0, 9 KOs) and Puerto Rican veteran Thomas Dulorme (25-4-1, 16 KOs) will square off in a 12-round WBA welterweight elimination match. The three-bout broadcast will begin with a 12-round battle in which the Philippines’ Jerwin Ancajas (32-1-2, 22 KOs) will defend his IBF junior bantamweight championship against Mexico’s Jonathan Rodriguez (22-1, 16 KOs), Ancajas’ mandatory challenger.

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