Junior welterweight Arthur Biyarslanov showed his ability to adjust when facing former belt holder Sergey Lipinets in his most recent fight.

Biyarslanov, 20-0 (16 KOs), had recorded knockouts in 10 of his past 11 fights before facing his toughest test in Lipinets, a 37-year-old former title challenger, last October. Biyarslanov, 30, dealt with repeated head clashes and Lipinets’ refusal to back down – and even looked to counter with power shots.

“It was a learning experience,” Biyarslanov trainer Samuel Decarie-Drolet told BoxingScene earlier this year. “He has been in the ring with good fighters – but never a fighter as experienced with high-level fights like Lipinets.”

Biyarslanov, a 2016 Olympian, faced adversity in the later rounds, particularly the 10th. A Russian who trains out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, dominated the first half of the fight, but had to change gears to win.

“At the end, he had to dig deep to finish the fight like a champion,” Decarie-Drolet said. “If you always win inside the first six rounds, you don’t learn so much. Now, he had to control the fight, control the headbutt, control the cut, control a guy who keeps coming forward. … It was the experience that he needed.”

Biyarslanov, who will face Jimerr Espinosa on Thursday at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, is currently ranked No. 4 by the WBC, No. 5 by the IBF and No. 11 by the WBO. It should be only a matter of time before he gets a title eliminator opportunity or a shot at a belt holder.

Espinoza, 17-2-1 (16 KOs), who is unbeaten in his past three fights, suffered a split decision loss to Delante “Tiger” Johnson in December 2023. A 28-year-old from Mexico City, Espinoza stopped Adrian Villanueva last May.

Espinoza is a traditional pressure fighter, so the experience of facing Lipinets should benefit Biyarslanov heading into this bout.

“At some point in the fight [against Lipinets], I had to change my style,” Biyarslanov told BoxingScene. “So that is what I did, and it helped me improve a lot.”

Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.