Maxim Bursak Defends Against Nick Blackwell on 9/21

By Alexey Sukachev and Dmitry Michalchuk

European middleweight titleholder Maksim Bursak (27-1-1, 12 KOs) will look to get another British fighter on his victim list on September 21 in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Bursak, 29, and rated #5 by the WBO/WBA and #11 by the WBC, defends against 22-year old Nick Blackwell (13-2, 6 KOs) of Trowbridge, Wiltshire.

Bursak acquired his title with a frenetic three-round road stoppage of the Frenchman Julien Marie Sainte. He then defended it once, scoring a hard-fought unanimous decision over another Brit Prince Arron in July.

Blackwell is a former BBBofC English (not to confuse with the BBBofC British) and WBC Youth Silver middleweight titlist. He has never fought outside of the UK, and his best wins came against local fighters Harry Matthews and Martin Concepcion. His losses were to two top-rated undefeated (at the time) British middleweights Martin Murray (on TKO in 2011) and Billy Joe Saunders (on UD in 2012).

Also on the card are WBO #10 light heavyweight Vyacheslav Uzelkov (28-3, 17 KOs) and several undefeated fighters, including heavyweight Vladimir Tereshkin (16-0-1, 7 KOs), Valentin Golovko (19-0, 13 KOs), Valery Brazhnik (29-0-1, 17 KOs), Umar Salamov (6-0, 5 KOs) and Mishiko Beselia (3-0, 1 KO). K2 Ukraine promotes the event.