Those hoping for Terence Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs) to fight Julius Indongo (22-0, 11 KOs) in order to completely unify the junior welterweight division are not likely go get what they were hoping for according to Indongo manager Alex Vaysfield. The new Namibian star will likely pass on his mandatory defense against Sergey Lipinets (12-0, 10 KOs) and give up the belt instead. This actually makes the Crawford fight more likely, but it won’t be for complete unification if that matters to you.

Indongo won his second belt last weekend with a dominant showing over Ricky Burns in Scotland. That put all four belts on two men, he and Crawford, making a unification fight look like a no brainer. The IBF, however, ordered a mandatory defense against Lipinets. Unlike the other sanctioning bodies, the IBF is very strict with its mandatory defenses. No step aside money can be offered, for example.

On one hand, of course we would like to see Indongo and Crawford in together if that is the plan, but I am a little disappointed that this fight will not happen. I feel like Indongo/Lipinets would be an exciting, fascinating fight to watch play out. Crawford/Indongo is a huge fight right now, but I can’t see Indongo and his sometimes crude style being a problem for the pound for pound elite Omaha native over the course of twelve rounds.

Should this come to pass, it is reported that Lipinets will fight Maurice Hooker (22-0-3, 16 KOs) for the newly vacated title. Two fights ago Hooker kept his undefeated record by flat out robbery in a fight against Darleys Perez on the Kovalev/Ward PPV broadcast. Lipinets would be a heavy favorite in that bout.