This is a good fight between two top light heavyweight contenders. Joshua Buatsi is finally taking the big step up in competition he needs before challenging for a world title. Ricards Bolotniks is carrying on his momentum after winning MTK’s Golden Contract tournament.
Joshua Buatsi is a fierce puncher who can box as well. There’s a lot of room between his gloves, which leads to him getting hit a lot when his opponents are above a certain level. He showed in the Calic fight he’s tough and can push through hard moments but that fight was concerning because of how many punches he took.
Ricards Bolotniks is a capable fighter who is more technically sound than he first appears when watching him. He puts on good pressure and likes to fight on the front foot. Bolotniks fights quite low unlike Buatsi who is fairly upright, I think due to this dynamic Bolotnik may find success with overhand rights. His defence is fairly solid and he catches a lot of punches on the gloves. I think Buatsi is the bigger puncher of the two but Bolotniks has respectable power himself.
This fight is going to be competitive and I honestly could see either man winning. I think in reality though Bolotniks will need a knockout to win as Buatsi is the house fighter and is in this case fighting in the back garden of his promoters headquarters. It’s unlikely Bolotniks gets a knockout so I imagine Buatsi will win a decision in a competitive bout, a stoppage from Buatsi wouldn’t be a surprise due to his power.
Boxing Fulcrum 