By Jake Donovan

Sergey Lipinets knew exactly what he was walking into when he agreed to a fight with Lamont Peterson. 

The former 140-pound champ—who had just moved up to welterweight last summer—openly embraced the idea of taking on the well-established welterweight in in Oxon Hill, Md., just outside the former two-division titlist’s Washington D.C. hometown.

Going that route, Lipinets theorized, would only make him raise his game and prove that he belongs among the best welterweights today—even if his handlers thought there was an easier way to prove such a point.

“I admit, I was somewhat timid about having Sergey take this fight,” Alex Vaysfeld, confessed to BoxingScene.com. “It wasn’t just the level of opposition, but also knowing where the fight was taking place. Sergey insisted on taking the fight, though, for one reason; to gauge himself on how he fits among the best (welterweights out there).”

Lipinets (15-1, 11KOs) certainly got the answer he was looking for, rallying from an earlier deficit to drop and eventually stop Peterson in the 10th round of their March 24 PBC on FS1 headliner. The Sunday evening slugfest is already being hailed as far and away the leading Fight of the Year contender, with both boxers establishing career-bests in punches thrown and landed.

Peterson enjoyed a 303-to 264 edge in punches landed, while Lipinets threw slightly more (986 to Peterson’s 972), although the gap was much wider earlier in the contest. Despite falling behind earlier, the 30-year old Russian from Kazakhstan—now based in California—remained confident of achieving his goal of a knockout ending.

“Being that the fight was in (Peterson’s home region), naturally I had that notion that I needed to make it obvious that I’m a better guy in the ring,” Lipinets confessed to BoxingScene.com over the concern of possibly falling prey to hometown favoritism if the bout went to the scorecards. “But it’s in my nature to try and get my opponent out if I can.”

Lipinets did just that, and perhaps at the right time as he was officially trailing on one scorecard. Even if Peterson had survived the 10th round, it was likely that Lipinets was on his way to a decision victory.

Instead, he emphatically closed the show and left fans craving for his next fight. Mission accomplished across the board—and now onto his next goal, which is to become a two-division champion after having just conquered one.

“I don’t need to name all of the champions, everyone with a belt, any welterweight whose name and reputation can get me to where I want to be in the division is who I want next,” insists Lipinets, who is slated to return later this summer.

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox