Ričards Bolotņiks (born 24 March 1990) is a Latvian professional boxer who held the WBO European light-heavyweight title from 2019 to 2022.
Ričards Bolotņiks | |
|---|---|
| Born | 24 March 1990 Riga, Latvia |
| Nationality | Latvian |
| Other names | The Lion |
| Statistics | |
| Weight(s) | |
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) |
| Stance | Orthodox |
| Boxing record[1] | |
| Total fights | 29 |
| Wins | 20 |
| Wins by KO | 8 |
| Losses | 8 |
| Draws | 1 |
Professional career
editBolotņiks 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| 29 fights | 20 wins | 8 losses |
|---|---|---|
| By knockout | 8 | 6 |
| By decision | 12 | 2 |
| Draws | 1 | |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | Loss | 20–8–1 |  Imam Khataev
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TKO | 6 (10), 1:34 | 12 May 2024 |  RAC Arena, Perth, Australia
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| 28 | Win | 20–7–1 |  Tomas Bezvoda
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UD | 6 | 3 Dec 2023 |  Olympic Sports Center, Riga, Latvia
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| 27 | Loss | 19–7–1 |  Oleksandr Gvozdyk
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TKO | 6 (10), 1:06 | 6 Apr 2023 |  Estadio Akron, Zapopan, Mexico
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| 26 | Win | 19–6–1 |  Hrvoje Sep
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UD | 8 | 1 Apr 2022 |  Palau Olímpic Vall d'Hebron Barcelona, Spain
| |
| 25 | Loss | 18–6–1 |  Joshua Buatsi
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KO | 11 (12), 2:08 | 14 Aug 2021 | Matchroom Fight Camp, Brentwood, England
|
For WBA International light-heavyweight title |
| 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
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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
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UD | 12 | 12 Oct 2019 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
|
Won vacant EBP light-heavyweight title |
| 20 | Win | 14–5–1 | Gasan Gasanov
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TKO | 6 (8), 0:56 | 15 Jun 2019 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 19 | Win | 13–5–1 |  Patrick Mendy
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MD | 8 | 23 Mar 2019 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 18 | Win | 12–5–1 |  Zura Mekereshvili
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UD | 6 | 6 Oct 2018 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 17 | Loss | 11–5–1 |  Thabiso Mchunu
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TKO | 6 (10), 0:23 | 23 Jun 2018 | Emperors Palace, Kempton Park, South Africa
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| 16 | Win | 11–4–1 |  Alejandro Emilio Valori
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KO | 1 (8), 2:41 | 17 Mar 2018 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 15 | Loss | 10–4–1 |  Micki Nielsen
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SD | 8 | 27 Jan 2018 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 14 | Win | 10–3–1 | César Córdoba
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TKO | 1 (6), 1:47 | 12 Nov 2016 | Bilbao Exhibition Centre, Barakaldo, Spain
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| 13 | Win | 9–3–1 | Reinis Porozovs
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UD | 8 | 31 Jul 2016 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 12 | Win | 8–3–1 | Giorgi Tevdorashvili
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UD | 8 | 14 May 2016 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 11 | Win | 7–3–1 |  Jarek Prusak
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KO | 2 (8), 0:34 | 21 Feb 2016 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 10 | Win | 6–3–1 | Reinis Porozovs
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UD | 6 | 5 Dec 2015 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 9 | Win | 5–3–1 | Andrejs Pokumeiko
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UD | 6 | 10 Oct 2015 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 8 | Loss | 4–3–1 |  Kevin Buval
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UD | 6 | 22 May 2015 | Gymnase Georges Racine, Clichy, France
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| 7 | Win | 4–2–1 |  Lukas Ablozevicius
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UD | 4 | 28 Mar 2015 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 6 | Win | 3–2–1 |  Pascal Villeneuve
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MD | 6 | 31 Jan 2015 | Hilton Lac Leamy, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
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| 5 | Win | 3–2 | Andrejs Pokumeiko
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UD | 4 | 6 Dec 2014 | Arēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
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| 4 | Loss | 2–2 | Andreas Evangelou
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TKO | 4 (6), 3:06 | 12 Jul 2014 | York Hall, London, England
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| 3 | Win | 2–1 | Arturs Perihs
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TKO | 1 (4), 0:33 | 18 May 2014 | Club Rigas Rings, Riga, Latvia
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| 2 | Loss | 1–1 | Abel Mikaelyan
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TKO | 3 (4), 2:30 | 23 Nov 2013 | CU Arena, Hamburg, Germany
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| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Pavels Veselovs
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KO | 1 (4), 2:37 | 15 Aug 2013 | Club Rigas Rings, Riga, Latvia
|
References
edit- ^ "Boxing record for Ričards Bolotņiks". BoxRec.
- ^ "Bokseris Bolotņiks pēc karjerā lielākās uzvaras saņem apsveikumu no Brieža". Latvijas Sabiedriskie mediji (in Latvian). 1 October 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Donovan, Jake (27 January 2018). "Usyk-Briedis Undercard: Nielsen (Gift), Hrgrovic (KO) Score Wins". Fight Nights. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Zifo, Mesuli (25 June 2018). "Mbenge conquers the world". Daily Dispatch. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Iskenderov, Parviz (14 October 2019). "LNK Fight Night 13 results: Bolotniks decisions Ekimov". Fightmag. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ "Highly-ranked Bolotniks in Golden Contract" (Press release). MTK Global. 28 October 2019. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Parkinson, Nick (12 December 2019). "What's the Golden Contract light-heavyweight tournament, and who's in it?". ESPN. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Parkinson, Nick (14 December 2019). "Ricards Bolotniks knocks out Steven Ward in Golden Contract light heavyweight tournament". ESPN. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
- ^ Sukachev, Alexey (26 September 2020). "Ricards Bolotniks Beats Up, Decisions Hosea Burton Over Ten". Boxing Scene. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
External links
edit- Boxing record for Ričards Bolotņiks from BoxRec (registration required)