Ričards Bolotņiks

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Ričards Bolotņiks
Born (1990-03-24) 24 March 1990 (age 34)
Riga, Latvia
NationalityLatvian
Other namesThe Lion
Statistics
Weight(s)
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record[1]
Total fights28
Wins20
Wins by KO8
Losses7
Draws1

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

Professional career[edit]

Bolotņiks played ice hockey when he was younger, but decided to try boxing since he had always wanted to fight.[2] 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.[3] Five months later he lost again to Thabiso Mchunu in South Africa,[4] 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.[5] 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.[6][7] 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.[8] He retained his title in the semi-finals against Hosea Burton by ten-round UD in Riga on 26 September 2020.[9]

Professional boxing record[edit]

28 fights 20 wins 7 losses
By knockout 8 5
By decision 12 2
Draws 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
28 Win 20–7–1 Czech Republic Tomas Bezvoda UD 6 3 Dec 2023 Latvia Olympic Sports Center, Riga, Latvia
27 Loss 19–7–1 Ukraine Oleksandr Gvozdyk TKO 6 (10), 1:06 6 Apr 2023 Mexico Estadio Akron, Zapopan, Mexico
26 Win 19–6–1 Croatia Hrvoje Sep UD 8 1 Apr 2022 Spain Palau Olímpic Vall d'Hebron Barcelona, Spain
25 Loss 18–6–1 United Kingdom Joshua Buatsi KO 11 (12), 2:08 14 Aug 2021 United Kingdom Matchroom Fight Camp, Brentwood, England For WBA International light-heavyweight title
24 Win 18–5–1 Germany Serge Michel TKO 10 (10), 2:50 2 Dec 2020 United Kingdom Production Park Studios, South Kirkby, England Retained WBO European light-heavyweight title;
The Golden Contract: light-heavyweight – final
23 Win 17–5–1 United Kingdom Hosea Burton UD 10 26 Sep 2020 Latvia Studio 69, Riga, Latvia Retained WBO European light-heavyweight title;
The Golden Contract: light-heavyweight – semi-final
22 Win 16–5–1 United Kingdom Steven Ward TKO 1 (10), 2:21 14 Dec 2019 United Kingdom Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England Won WBO European light-heavyweight title;
The Golden Contract: light-heavyweight – quarter-final
21 Win 15–5–1 Russia Sergei Ekimov UD 12 12 Oct 2019 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia Won vacant EBP light-heavyweight title
20 Win 14–5–1 Russia Gasan Gasanov TKO 6 (8), 0:56 15 Jun 2019 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
19 Win 13–5–1 The Gambia Patrick Mendy MD 8 23 Mar 2019 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
18 Win 12–5–1 Georgia (country) Zura Mekereshvili UD 6 6 Oct 2018 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
17 Loss 11–5–1 South Africa Thabiso Mchunu TKO 6 (10), 0:23 23 Jun 2018 South Africa Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
16 Win 11–4–1 Argentina Alejandro Emilio Valori KO 1 (8), 2:41 17 Mar 2018 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
15 Loss 10–4–1 Denmark Micki Nielsen SD 8 27 Jan 2018 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
14 Win 10–3–1 Spain César Córdoba TKO 1 (6), 1:47 12 Nov 2016 Spain Bilbao Exhibition Centre, Barakaldo, Spain
13 Win 9–3–1 Latvia Reinis Porozovs UD 8 31 Jul 2016 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
12 Win 8–3–1 Georgia (country) Giorgi Tevdorashvili UD 8 14 May 2016 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
11 Win 7–3–1 Poland Jarek Prusak KO 2 (8), 0:34 21 Feb 2016 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
10 Win 6–3–1 Latvia Reinis Porozovs UD 6 5 Dec 2015 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
9 Win 5–3–1 Latvia Andrejs Pokumeiko UD 6 10 Oct 2015 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
8 Loss 4–3–1 France Kevin Buval UD 6 22 May 2015 France Gymnase Georges Racine, Clichy, France
7 Win 4–2–1 Lithuania Lukas Ablozevicius UD 4 28 Mar 2015 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
6 Win 3–2–1 Canada Pascal Villeneuve MD 6 31 Jan 2015 Canada Hilton Lac Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
5 Win 3–2 Latvia Andrejs Pokumeiko UD 4 6 Dec 2014 Latvia Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
4 Loss 2–2 United Kingdom Andreas Evangelou TKO 4 (6), 3:06 12 Jul 2014 United Kingdom York Hall, London, England
3 Win 2–1 Latvia Arturs Perihs TKO 1 (4), 0:33 18 May 2014 Latvia Club Rigas Rings, Riga, Latvia
2 Loss 1–1 Germany Abel Mikaelyan TKO 3 (4), 2:30 23 Nov 2013 Germany CU Arena, Hamburg, Germany
1 Win 1–0 Latvia Pavels Veselovs KO 1 (4), 2:37 15 Aug 2013 Latvia Club Rigas Rings, Riga, Latvia

References[edit]

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

External links[edit]