Ričards Bolotņiks

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 secured 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 10-round UD in Riga on 26 September 2020.^[9] Bolotņiks retained the title again, and won the final, by stopping Serge Michel in the 10th round at Production Park Studios in South Kirkby on 2 December 2020.^[10]

He faced Joshua Buatsi for the vacant WBA International light-heavyweight title at Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood on 14 August 2021, losing by knockout in the 11th round.^[11]