On Sunday, December 19, WBO #4-, IBF #6-, and WBC #14-ranked bantamweight contender Nikolai Potapov of Russia will continue his hunt for a monstrous challenge by facing rugged South African Sabelo Ngebinyana in a 10-round showdown at USC Soviet Wings Stadium in Moscow, Russia.
Fighting in the co-main event of another card presented by promoter Shamir Petrossian of Shamo Boxing, Potapov (23-2-1, 11 KOs) from Podolsk, Russia will be looking to make Ngebinyana (13-5, 10 KOs) from Cape Town one of the final steps up the ladder before his dream match-up: undefeated IBF and WBA World Champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue.
“I look forward to putting on another great performance,” said Potapov of the upcoming battle. “I am staying busy in the ring and active in the gym. The man I want most is known as the ‘Monster,’ Inoue from Japan.”
30-year-old Potapov’s only legitimate loss was to then champion Omar Andres Narvaez in 2017. He was the victim of a highly dubious majority decision “loss” to a then streaking Joshua Greer Jr in 2019 for the NABO Championship… a decision widely panned by global boxing fans. Potapov has gone on to win four consecutive fights.
“Nikolai is one of the best bantamweights in the world,” said his promoter, Dmitriy Salita of Salita Promotions. “He is world rated in all of the organizations and is on a cusp of a big world title fight. Another win will get Nikolai one step closer.”
In the night’s main event, undefeated Russian welterweight Vitaly Petryakov (11-0, 8 KOs) from Zainsk, Russia, will look to continue his rise against once-beaten South African Jabulani Makhense (11-1, 5 KOs).