WBO #9- and IBF #11-ranked bantamweight Nikolai Potapov will return to action on Wednesday, October 30 in Moscow, Russia.
Fighting in the 10-round main event of a card presented by Shamo Boxing at the Korston Club Hotel, Potapov (20-2-1, 11 KOs), of Podolsk, Russia now living in New York, will face Tanzanian southpaw Nasibu Ramadhani (29-14-2, 16 KOs).
It will be the first fight back for Potapov since his highly controversial decision loss to fellow contender Joshua Greer Jr. last July. On that night, Potapov appeared to hand Greer’s career momentum a night-night pillow by winning clearly, only to watch Greer’s hand be raised via questionable majority decision.
Potapov’s promoter Dmitriy Salita, who was incensed by the verdict of the fight which was an IBF Elimination bout broadcast live on ESPN+, says he’s happy to see Potapov shaking off the disappointment and resuming his quest.
“Nikolai was extremely upset in his last fight and so was I and so were most of the fans. I commend him for not becoming discouraged and being able to re-focus and return to the ring. He is one of the world’s best bantamweights and, with fair judging, a potential world champion. He is back, better than ever for this fight and ready to mount another climb to a world-title shot.”
Salita says Potapov will be back in another elimination bout in the not-so-distant future.
“I commend the IBF for keeping Nikolai in the ratings despite the robbery. He will be looking to face another top contender and regain his position in line for a shot at the belt. He’s using his last fight as motivation to get there. He is determined to right the judges’ wrongs against Joshua Greer in a rematch.”