Ričards Bolotņiks Explained

Ričards Bolotņiks
Nickname:The Lion
Weight:
Nationality:Latvian
Birth Date:1990 3, df=y
Birth Place:Riga, Latvia
Style:Orthodox
Boxrec:661423
Total:29
Wins:20
Draws:1
Losses:8
Ko:8

Ričards Bolotņiks (born 24 March 1990) is a Latvian professional boxer who held the WBO European light-heavyweight title from 2019 to 2022.

Professional career

Bolotņiks played ice hockey when he was younger, but decided to try boxing since he had always wanted to fight.[1] He made his professional debut on 15 August 2013, defeating Pavels Veselovs by first-round knockout (KO) in Riga. In his next seven bouts he won only three times, suffering losses in Germany, England and France. After that he managed a string of six victories from 2015 to 2016, during which he moved up a weight class to cruiserweight. Sitting on a 10–3–1 record, he faced Micki Nielsen in Riga on 27 January 2018, losing by controversial split decision (SD) to end his streak.[2] Five months later he lost again to Thabiso Mchunu in South Africa,[3] and decided to move back down to light-heavyweight.

On 12 October 2019, Bolotņiks defeated Sergei Ekimov (18–0, 9 KO) by unanimous decision (UD) in Riga for the vacant EBP light-heavyweight title, the first of his career.[4] Later that month, he was announced as a participant in The Golden Contract light-heavyweight tournament that secures the winner a two-year, five-fight contract with MTK Global.[5] [6] In the quarter-finals, he matched up against undefeated Belfast native Steven Ward (12–0, 4 KO) at the Brentwood Centre in England on 14 December with his WBO European light-heavyweight title also on the line. Bolotņiks won the fight by first-round technical knockout (TKO) in an upset, flooring the champion three times en route to a new belt and a £5,000 knockout bonus.[7] He retained his title in the semi-finals against Hosea Burton by ten-round UD in Riga on 26 September 2020.[8]

Professional boxing record

ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
29Loss20–8–1 Imam KhataevTKO6 (10), 12 May 2024
28Win20–7–1 Tomas BezvodaUD63 Dec 2023
27Loss19–7–1 Oleksandr GvozdykTKO6 (10), 6 Apr 2023
26Win19–6–1 Hrvoje SepUD81 Apr 2022
25Loss18–6–1 Joshua BuatsiKO11 (12), 14 Aug 2021
24Win18–5–1 Serge MichelTKO10 (10), 2 Dec 2020
23Win17–5–1 Hosea BurtonUD1026 Sep 2020
22Win16–5–1 Steven WardTKO1 (10), 14 Dec 2019
21Win15–5–1 Sergei EkimovUD1212 Oct 2019
20Win14–5–1 Gasan GasanovTKO6 (8), 15 Jun 2019
19Win13–5–1 Patrick MendyMD823 Mar 2019
18Win12–5–1 Zura MekereshviliUD66 Oct 2018
17Loss11–5–1 Thabiso MchunuTKO6 (10), 23 Jun 2018
16Win11–4–1 Alejandro Emilio ValoriKO1 (8), 17 Mar 2018
15Loss10–4–1 Micki Nielsen827 Jan 2018
14Win10–3–1 César CórdobaTKO1 (6), 12 Nov 2016
13Win9–3–1 Reinis PorozovsUD831 Jul 2016
12Win8–3–1 Giorgi TevdorashviliUD814 May 2016
11Win7–3–1 Jarek PrusakKO2 (8), 21 Feb 2016
10Win6–3–1 Reinis PorozovsUD65 Dec 2015
9Win5–3–1 Andrejs PokumeikoUD610 Oct 2015
8Loss4–3–1 Kevin BuvalUD622 May 2015
7Win4–2–1 Lukas AblozeviciusUD428 Mar 2015
6Win3–2–1 Pascal Villeneuve631 Jan 2015
5Win3–2 Andrejs Pokumeiko46 Dec 2014
4Loss2–2 Andreas EvangelouTKO4 (6), 12 Jul 2014
3Win2–1 Arturs PerihsTKO1 (4), 18 May 2014
2Loss1–1 Abel Mikaelyan3 (4), 23 Nov 2013
1Win1–0 Pavels Veselovs1 (4), 15 Aug 2013

Notes and References

  1. News: Bokseris Bolotņiks pēc karjerā lielākās uzvaras saņem apsveikumu no Brieža. Latvijas Sabiedriskie mediji. 1 October 2020. 7 November 2020. lv.
  2. News: Usyk-Briedis Undercard: Nielsen (Gift), Hrgrovic (KO) Score Wins. Fight Nights. Jake. Donovan. 27 January 2018. 7 November 2020.
  3. News: Mbenge conquers the world. Daily Dispatch. Mesuli. Zifo. 25 June 2018. 7 November 2020.
  4. News: LNK Fight Night 13 results: Bolotniks decisions Ekimov. Fightmag. Parviz. Iskenderov. 14 October 2019. 7 November 2020.
  5. Highly-ranked Bolotniks in Golden Contract. MTK Global. 28 October 2019. 7 November 2020.
  6. News: What's the Golden Contract light-heavyweight tournament, and who's in it?. ESPN. Nick. Parkinson. 12 December 2019. 7 November 2020.
  7. News: Ricards Bolotniks knocks out Steven Ward in Golden Contract light heavyweight tournament. ESPN. Nick. Parkinson. 14 December 2019. 7 November 2020.
  8. News: Ricards Bolotniks Beats Up, Decisions Hosea Burton Over Ten. Boxing Scene. Alexey. Sukachev. 26 September 2020. 7 November 2020.