Ricards Bolotniks is ready for a rematch against Joshua Buatsi and is plotting more fights in his home country.
The Latvian is the WBO European light heavyweight champion, and enjoyed success a few years back when he beat British fighters Hosea Burton and Steven Ward, and then knocked out Serge Michel.
In 2022 he took on Buatsi and was stopped in the 11th, and then a fight with Craig Richards was called off when Richards withdrew through illness.
Since then he has a loss to Oleksandr Gvozdyk last May, and returned to winning ways last December when he fought in Latvia against Czech contender Tomas Bezvoda.
Speaking to BoxingScene.com, Bolotniks explained where he sees his future.
“We have had a lot of offers from England, Russia and a lot of other places,” he said. “Right now, though, I want to fight in Latvia. I would like to make one or two fights at home for the local people. I missed out a little bit when there were some great fights happening in Riga, I would always have a fight in the UK or Spain.
“It was great to be home for the last fight. I felt a lot of love from the fans, it has been so long since I fought in Riga. We’ve had some great nights in Riga over the last few years, it would be a shame to see it stop. I know the Latvian people want some good fights here, I could feel when I was fighting, I felt a lot of love and support. They screamed all night, they always do.
“I will go back to the UK and fight in other countries but now I want to fight in Riga. The fans in Latvia want to see me fight at home and with some of the Latvian guys, a lot of us are around the same weight. LNK Boxing had a nice idea of who I can fight next, it is alright for me. It was an interesting proposition, but a lot still to sort out. Maybe in May we will have a good tournament.
“There are some good guys the weight below me with good records and good experience now. Maybe we can have some good all-Latvian fights. The fans always love it when we fight each other. Late last year we spoke about the idea, I spoke to my good friend Kristaps Bulmeistars about it too, and Ralfs Vilcans was also a name you know that was mentioned. Nothing is confirmed, it will be in the future, but I love the idea and it would be great for Latvian boxing.”
As well as staying active in Latvia, he also said he wanted to come back to England and avenge his defeat to Buatsi.
“I still want to come back to England,” Bolotniks said. “I still need some wins over the English guys! I want that rematch with Buatsi. I can’t leave that loss like that, I just don’t want to. If England did call with a good offer, I would think about it because I have unfinished business there. People from England are always texting me to come back, they liked me over there.
“I need some wins over there, it’s nothing personal to English people. We are all friends, it is only business. I love fighting in the UK, the people and the fans were good to me.”
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