Vladimir Nikitin

At the age of 28, Vladimir is a talented prospect at 126 pounds. He had a good amateur career before his debut with reportedly 300 fights, and represented his native Russia in the 2016 Olympic Games. He also had several fights in AIBA’s World Series of Boxing.

Vladimir made his pro debut on July 28 in Kissimmee, Florida, and won a six-round unanimous decision against Edward Kakembo.

He returned to the ring three months later – in his last fight on October 20 in Las Vegas, he won a six-round unanimous decision against Clay Burns.

Boxingscene.com’s Ryan Burton reported from ringside [excerpts]: 2016 Olympic bronze medal winner Vladimir Nikitin improved to 2-0 in the pro ranks with a workmanlike unanimous decision victory over Clay Burns (5-5-2).

Nikitin, who defeated Michael Conlan controversially in the Rio Games, struggled to find his groove but was still too much for his opponent.

The final scores were 59-55 on all three cards. [End Burton item]

Vladimir is best known, at least in the United States and the United Kingdom, for his controversial decision win against Michael Conlan in the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil. It was one of several questionable decisions in the tournament that resulted in the suspension of a number of ring officials.

The controversy in that one fight has obscured the fact that Vladimir had a long and successful amateur career at the international level – he was the gold medalist at several prestigious tournaments and had impressive wins against top-level amateurs.

One of those impressive wins came, without controversy, in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, when Vladimir won a 3-0 decision against Michael Conlan.

Boxing News’ John Dennen reported, “Michael Conlan, in the 56kgs quarterfinal, let too many shots through as Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin poured forward. Conlan began to circle less, electing to fight fire with fire. It made for a pleasing spectacle, but the Irish bantamweight lost a unanimous decision.” Vladimir went on to win the silver medal at the tournament.

Before Vladimir’s debut, ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael wrote [June 28, 2018 – excerpts]: Nikitin has had around 300 amateur fights, according to manager Egis Klimas, who also guides fighters such as Vasiliy Lomachenko and Sergey Kovalev. Nikitin won a silver medal at the 2013 World Amateur Championships and a bronze medal at the 2013 European Championships in addition to his Olympic bronze medal.

Klimas said signing with Top Rank was the best way to get the fight Nikitin wants most: a rematch with Conlan.

“I think he’s a very talented and also a very exciting fighter in the ring and we could have signed with other promoters,” Klimas said. “But the No. 1 reason we signed with Top Rank was to make sure he can fight Conlan and erase the doubts people have from the Olympics. Let them meet in the professional ranks and bring a big fight for the fans. Both guys want that fight and it will be an easy fight to make.” [End Rafael item]

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS:

2017 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Grozny, Russia, 132 pounds: in his first fight on 10-1-17 he lost a 4-1 decision against Albert Batyrgaziev…

2017 INTERNATIONAL ROUND ROBIN TOURNAMENT – Dublin, Ireland, 132 pounds: in his only fight on 4-28-17 he lost a 4-1 decision against Patrick Mongan of Ireland…

2017 GREAT SILK WAY TOURNAMENT – Baku, Azerbaijan, 132 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 3-14-17 he stopped Atiq Berrada of Qatar in the 3^rd round; in the quarterfinals on 3-15-17 he won a 5-0 decision against Berik Abdrakhmanov of Kazakhstan; in the semifinals on 3-16-17 he won a 5-0 decision against Stas Batiy of Ukraine; in the finals on 3-17-17 he was stopped in the second round against Sarkhan Aliyev of Azerbaijan…

2016 OLYMPIC GAMES – Rio de Janiero, Brazil, 123 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 8-10-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Boe Warawara of Vanuatu; in his second fight on 8-14-16 he won a 2-1 decision against Chatchai Butdee of Thailand; in the quarterfinals on 8-16-16 he won a 3-0 decision against Michael Conlan of Ireland; in the semifinals on 8-18-16 he lost by walkover against Shakur Stevenson of the United States…

2015 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Samara, Russia, 123 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 11-23-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Ararat Mchitaryan; in the quarterfinals on 11-26-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Alexandr Nikitin; in the semifinals on 11-27-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Ertine Damba; in the finals on 11-29-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Shakhriyor Akhmedov…

2015 WORLD SERIES OF BOXING – 123 pounds: on 2-12-15 in Moscow, Russia, he won a 3-0 decision against Enrico Le Cruz of Holland; on 2-27-15 in St. Petersburg, Russia, he won a 3-0 decision against Said Malek of Morocco; on 3-13-15 in St. Petersburg, Russia, he won a 3-0 decision against Wang Long of China; on 3-28-15 in Aguascalientes, Mexico, he won a 2-1 decision against Sergio Chirino of Mexico; on 4-7-15 in Moscow, Russia, he won a 3-0 decision against Khalil Litim of Algeria; on 4-17-15 in Kiev, Ukraine, he won a 3-0 decision against Omurbek Malabekov of Kyrgyzstan…

2014 WORLD SERIES OF BOXING – 123 pounds: on 1-11-14 in Moscow, Russia, he won a 3-0 decision against Aaron Alameda of Mexico; on 3-31-14 in Moscow, Russia, he won a 3-0 decision against Mykola Butsenko of Ukraine; on 4-24-14 in Moscow, Russia, he won a 3-0 decision against Norlan Yera of Cuba…

2013 WORLD SERIES OF BOXING – 123 pounds: on 11-16-13 in St. Petersburg, Russia, he won a 3-0 decision against Sylwester Kozłowski of Poland…

2013 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Almaty, Kazakhstan, 123 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 10-19-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Juan Reyes of Guatemala; in his second fight on 10-21-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Veaceslav Gojan of Moldavia; in the quarterfinals on 10-23-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Michael Conlan of Ireland; Boxing News’ John Dennen reported, “Michael Conlan, in the 56kgs quarterfinal, let too many shots through as Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin poured forward. Conlan began to circle less, electing to fight fire with fire. It made for a pleasing spectacle, but the Irish bantamweight lost a unanimous decision.”; in the semifinals on 10-25-13 he won a 2-1 decision against Mykola Butsenko of Ukraine; in the finals on 10-26-13 he lost a 3-0 decision against Cavid Chelebiyev of Azerbaijan…

2013 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS – Minsk, Belarus, 123 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 6-4-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Joe Ham of Scotland; in the quarterfinals on 6-5-13 he won a 2-1 decision against Georgi Gogatishvili of Georgia; in the semifinals on 6-7-13 he lost a 3-0 decision against John Joe Nevin of Ireland…

2013 CHEMISTRY CUP – Halle, Germany, 123 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 3-7-13 he won a 20-7 decision against Ciro Cipriano of Italy; in the semifinals on 3-8-13 he lost a 13-7 decision against Tugstsogt Nyambayar of Mongolia…

2012 EUROPEAN UNDER-22 CHAMPIONSHIPS – Kaliningrad, Russia, 123 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 12-13-12 he won a 15-9 decision against Sean McGoldrick of Wales; in the quarterfinals on 12-15-12 he won a 17-7 decision against Declan Geraghty of Ireland; in the semifinals on 12-17-12 he won a 23-8 decision against Mykola Butsenko of Ukraine; in the finals on 12-18-12 he won a 17-7 decision against Aram Avagyan of Armenia…

2012 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Syktyvkar, Russia, 123 pounds: in his first fight on 11-13-12 he lost a 22-9 decision against Grigoriy Nikolaychuk…

2012 RUSSIAN UNDER-22 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Novosibirsk, Russia, 123 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 7-26-12 he won a 17-6 decision against Arman Abramyan; in his second fight on 7-27-12 he won a 12-7 decision against Nikolay Kosyan; in the quarterfinals on 7-29-12 he won a 10-6 decision against Nikita Fedorchenko; in the semifinals on 7-30-12 he won a 14-6 decision against Evgeniy Averin; in the finals on 8-1-12 he won an 18-6 decision against Makhir Pashayev…

2012 WORLD SERIES OF BOXING – 119 pounds: on 1-20-12 in Mumbai, India, he lost a decision against Gaurav Bidhuri of India; on 2-10-12 in Moscow, Russia, he won a decision against Rafikjon Sultanov of Uzbekistan; on 3-9-12 in Moscow, Russia, he won by walkover against Dennis Ceylan of Denmark; on 5-2-12 in London, England, he lost a decision against Vincenzo Picardi of Italy…

2011 WORLD SERIES OF BOXING – 119 pounds: on 12-4-11 in Los Angeles, California, he lost a decision against Edwin Sandoval of the United States…

2010 RUSSIAN SUMMER UNDER-22 SPARTAKYADA – St. Petersburg, Russia, 119 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 7-12-10 he won a 7-1 decision against Sergey Gontarev; in the semifinals on 7-14-10 he won a 4-decision against Radik Tamoyan; in the finals on 7-15-10 he won a 3-2 decision against Grigoriy Nikolaychuk…

2010 BEOGRADSKI POBEDNIK – Belgrade, Serbia, 119 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the semifinals (his first fight) on 3-19-10 he stopped Marko Djuric of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1^st round; in the finals on 3-20-10 he stopped Nikola Magovac…

2011 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Ufa, Russia, 114 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 4-24-11 he stopped Magomed Abdurakhmanov in the 3^rd round; in the quarterfinals on 4-26-11 he won a 17-13 decision against Semen Stepanov; in the semifinals on 4-28-11 he lost a 16-5 decision against Misha Aloyan…

2010 CHINA OPEN – Guiyang, People’s Republic of China, 119 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 4-5-10 he won a 3-2 decision against Santosh Soubam Singh of India; in the quarterfinals on 4-7-10 he stopped Zhang Jiawei of China in the 3^rd round; in the semifinals on 4-9-10 he had a 3-3 draw, but won the tiebreaker against Yankiel Leon of Cuba; in the finals on 4-10-10 he lost an 8-1 decision against Mirzhan Rakhimzhanov of Kazakhstan…

2010 YURIY KAPITONOV & VLADIMIR KUZIN MEMORIAL – Lyubertsy, Russia, 119 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 2-11-10 he stopped Denis Lashin of Russia in the 2nd round; in the semifinals on 2-12-10 he stopped Dmitriy Badmayev of Russia in the 2^nd round; in the finals on 2-13-10 he stopped Madamin Dzhurayev of Russia in the 1^st round…

2009 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Rostov on Don, Russia, 119 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 11-15-09 he won a 10-1 decision against Grigoriy Nikolaychuk; in his second fight on 11-17-89 he won a 14-1 decision against Zaur Shereuzhev; in the quarterfinals on 11-19-09 he won a 7-4 decision against Magomed Kurbanov; in the semifinals on 11-20-09 he lost an 8-5 decision against Evgeniy Averin…

2009 GOVERNOR CUP – St. Petersburg, Russia, 119 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 10-8-09 he won a 13-1 decision against Puter Moishenzon of Israel; in the semifinals on 10-10-09 he won and 8-2 decision against Mravik Azaryan of Russia; in the finals on 10-11-09 he won a 7-1 decision against Evgeniy Averin of Russia…