# Ričards Bolotņiks

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. 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. Five months later he lost again to Thabiso Mchunu in South Africa, 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. 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. 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. He retained his title in the semi-finals against Hosea Burton by ten-round UD in Riga on 26 September 2020.

## Professional boxing record

| 29 fights | 20 wins | 8 losses |
| By knockout | 8 | 6 |
| By decision | 12 | 2 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 29 | Loss | 20–8–1 | Imam Khataev | TKO | 6 (10), 1:34 | 12 May 2024 | RAC Arena, Perth, Australia | |
| 28 | Win | 20–7–1 | Tomas Bezvoda | UD | 6 | 3 Dec 2023 | Olympic Sports Center, Riga, Latvia | |
| 27 | Loss | 19–7–1 | Oleksandr Gvozdyk | TKO | 6 (10), 1:06 | 6 Apr 2023 | Estadio Akron, Zapopan, Mexico | |
| 26 | Win | 19–6–1 | Hrvoje Sep | UD | 8 | 1 Apr 2022 | Palau Olímpic Vall d'Hebron Barcelona, Spain |
| 25 | Loss | 18–6–1 | Joshua Buatsi | 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 | 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 | |