Ričards Bolotņiks

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

Ričards Bolotņiks
Statistics
Nickname(s)The Lion
Weight(s)
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
NationalityLatvian
Born (1990-03-24) 24 March 1990
Riga, Latvia
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record[1]
Total fights24
Wins18
Wins by KO8
Losses5
Draws1

Professional career

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
Professional record summary
24 fights 18 wins 5 losses
By knockout 8 3
By decision 10 2
Draws 1
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
24 Win 18–5–1 Serge Michel TKO 10 (10), 2:50 2 Dec 2020 Production Park Studios, South Kirkby, England Retained WBO European light-heavyweight title;
The Golden Contract: Light-heavyweight – final
23 Win 17–5–1 Hosea Burton UD 10 26 Sep 2020 Studio 69, Riga, Latvia Retained WBO European light-heavyweight title;
The Golden Contract: Light-heavyweight – semi-final
22 Win 16–5–1 Steven Ward TKO 1 (10), 2:21 14 Dec 2019 Brentwood Centre, Brentwood, England Won WBO European light-heavyweight title;
The Golden Contract: Light-heavyweight – quarter-final
21 Win 15–5–1 Sergei Ekimov UD 12 12 Oct 2019 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia Won vacant EBP light-heavyweight title
20 Win 14–5–1 Gasan Gasanov TKO 6 (8), 0:56 15 Jun 2019 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
19 Win 13–5–1 Patrick Mendy MD 8 23 Mar 2019 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
18 Win 12–5–1 Zura Mekereshvili UD 6 6 Oct 2018 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
17 Loss 11–5–1 Thabiso Mchunu TKO 6 (10), 0:23 23 Jun 2018 Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
16 Win 11–4–1 Alejandro Emilio Valori KO 1 (8), 2:41 17 Mar 2018 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
15 Loss 10–4–1 Micki Nielsen SD 8 27 Jan 2018 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
14 Win 10–3–1 César Córdoba TKO 1 (6), 1:47 12 Nov 2016 Bilbao Exhibition Centre, Barakaldo, Spain
13 Win 9–3–1 Reinis Porozovs UD 8 31 Jul 2016 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
12 Win 8–3–1 Giorgi Tevdorashvili UD 8 14 May 2016 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
11 Win 7–3–1 Jarek Prusak KO 2 (8), 0:34 21 Feb 2016 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
10 Win 6–3–1 Reinis Porozovs UD 6 5 Dec 2015 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
9 Win 5–3–1 Andrejs Pokumeiko UD 6 10 Oct 2015 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
8 Loss 4–3–1 Kevin Buval UD 6 22 May 2015 Gymnase Georges Racine, Clichy, France
7 Win 4–2–1 Lukas Ablozevicius UD 4 28 Mar 2015 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
6 Win 3–2–1 Pascal Villeneuve MD 6 31 Jan 2015 Hilton Lac Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
5 Win 3–2 Andrejs Pokumeiko UD 4 6 Dec 2014 Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
4 Loss 2–2 Andreas Evangelou TKO 4 (6), 3:06 12 Jul 2014 York Hall, London, England
3 Win 2–1 Arturs Perihs TKO 1 (4), 0:33 18 May 2014 Club Rigas Rings, Riga, Latvia
2 Loss 1–1 Abel Mikaelyan TKO 3 (4), 2:30 23 Nov 2013 CU Arena, Hamburg, Germany
1 Win 1–0 Pavels Veselovs KO 1 (4), 2:37 15 Aug 2013 Club Rigas Rings, Riga, Latvia

References
  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.
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