Adam Azim on sharks, heights, reading Harry Potter and why he's facing his fears ahead of Sergey Lipinets fight

Adam Azim is facing his fears one by one.

These include sharks, heights and sitting down quietly to read a book.

Sergey Lipinets, however, is not listed among them. Azim fights the former world champion, a dangerous and seasoned veteran, tonight at Wembley Arena, live on Sky Sports.

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"No fear of Lipinets. Any opponent I face, I respect them, I highly respect them but when I get in that ring, I switch. Straight into focus," Azim told Sky Sports.

The boxer is a man of action. But he is trying to better himself. He's working to improve his communication skills as he prepares for sporting stardom, and he's doing that by reading, starting off with Harry Potter.

"Reading a book, there's a lot of thinking process reading a book. I've got ADHD. It's actually hard to sit still. I might read a couple of pages, I might swipe on phone, read another couple of pages," Azim explained.

"I think I'd rather have a fight than sit and read a book. Reading a book is sometimes stressful.

"It's a massive challenge for myself as well because if I want to get better at English I've got to read and be a talker," he added. "I never used to concentrate.

"I have to do stuff out of my comfort zone to make myself a better person sometimes."

He intends to keep on conquering his fears. "I like to do scary stuff," Azim said. "I've done the skydiving. I hate heights. I hate heights to bits but it was something on the bucket list I wanted to do.

"I'm going to do others like scuba diving or something. One thing I hate is sharks…"

But performing in the boxing ring, under the lights in front of thousands of spectators, and against an all-action fighter who has fought some of the best in the sport, does not trouble him.

"It's going to be a great fight. Lipinets is obviously a former world champion and the only way that he's going to fight is coming forward," Azim said.

"He's going to try and use that pressure against me. But I do like people who come at me.

"I've been training really hard for this fight," he added. "Sergey, he's going to put everything into it. Because he's got that experience, he's going to come give it a go. I know for sure that this is going to be a really good fight."

Lipinets himself had a warning for Azim. "He's in the way of my belt," the Kazakh, who is determined to become a two-time world champion, told Sky Sports. "He's only 22 years old and he hasn't fought at a level like mine.

"Many champions didn't take the fight with me because it's hard," he added. "It's a big step because I've fought with good fighters like Mikey Garcia, [Jaron] Ennis, and we will see what his level is. I think he wants to check this too. Is he on a champion's level or not yet?

"I respect that he's not scared to take this fight, because it's a hard fight. And we will see if he's ready for this fight or if it's a big mistake."

Azim is convinced that he is indeed ready. "Each fight I'm improving all the time. I feel like this fight I'll show my full package as a world-class athlete. And I feel like this is my time to shine."

He wants to use this contest to prove that he is a world champion in waiting.

"That's my main goal for this fight. I want to do a better job on him than 'Boots' [Ennis, the IBF welterweight world champion]. The way that 'Boots' beat him was actually with speed and I've got speed. To get him out there would be good," Azim said.

"Hopefully do it quicker than six rounds."

If Azim might read books to challenge himself as well as seeking out other tests for his leisure time, he will still unwind after this next fight. That will include reconnecting with his newly acquired pet goat.

"The goat, I have not seen it for a while. It's been in the farm, he's getting fed, he's getting bigger," Azim smiled.

"He kept running away from me, out of my hands. Started to settle down. He's still a little baby… Hopefully he gets bigger and I can take him out for a walk maybe.

He added: "I want to be the GOAT*. So I had to get a goat."

(*The Greatest of All Time.)

Watch Adam Azim vs Sergey Lipinets on Saturday, live on Sky Sports from 7pm. Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW.

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Adam Azim on sharks, heights, reading Harry Potter and why he's facing his fears ahead of Sergey Lipinets fight