Mikey Garcia will pop back down to 135, so that means the 140 belt he grabbed off Sergey Lipinets needs a new home.
The IBF’s 140 pound strap was given up by Mikey, after he said he’d go in search of another test, not at the junior welter realm.
So, Ivan Baranchyk will be the recipient of that move, it looks like, as the Belarus-born boxer with an 18-0 mark will be matched against 21-0-1 Swede Anthony Yigit.
Winner gets to hold the IBF 140 strap.
A source tells us that Teams Baranchyk and Yigit have 30 days to negotiate to find a home for their clash. The IBF had pushed Mikey into making a decision, telling him to make a fight with Baranchyk. He decided on another path. Lipinets had earned the crown, vacated by Terence Crawfrd after he moved to 147, by beating Akihiro Kondo last November.
The 25 year old Baranchyk (owns 11 KOs) is in the Dibella Entertainment stable and managed by David McWater, who is quietly building a very solid collection of talent.
Baranchyk scored a TKO win in his last glove up, against Petr Petrov March 9. He’s had to learn to be a smarter boxer as he’d gone into later rounds against better boxer, but he has a fan friendly style, looking to put together combos as he seeks a stoppage.
