Former welterweight contender Radzhab Butaev is scheduled to return to the ring after more than a year and a half away.
Butaev, 15-1 (12 KOs), will fight Jose Miguel Borrego on July 19 in Moscow, Russia, according to a social media post shared by Bxstrs Promotions, which works with Borrego.
Russia’s Butaev is a 31 year old living in California. In 2019 he lost a unanimous decision to Alexander Besputin, but that result was overturned when Besputin tested positive for a banned substance.
Toward the end of 2021 he won the WBA’s secondary “regular” welterweight title with a ninth-round TKO of Jamal James. He lost the belt one fight later, dropping a split decision to Eimantas Stanionis on the April 2022 undercard of Errol Spence-Yordenis Ugas (Stanionis was eventually upgraded to the WBA’s primary titleholder in August 2024 before being defeated in a unification bout with Jaron “Boots” Ennis earlier in 2025).
A fight between Butaev and Egidijus Kavaliauskas, planned for April 2023, never took place. Butaev instead returned after nearly 19 months of inactivity with a stoppage of the 11-1 Fazliddin Gaibnazarov in November 2023.
By the time Butaev steps in with Borrego, it will mark 20 months since his past bout.
Borrego, a 27 year old from Mexico, is 22-4 (18 KOs) – or 25-5 (20 KOs), if his four IBA Pro matches are included. He’s won four in a row since being outpointed by Khariton Agrba in March 2024. Borrego’s most recent victories involved decisions over Etoundi Michel William in November and Ryan Martin in December, and then a ninth-round knockout of the 37-26-2 Jhony Navarrete in April.
Also scheduled on that promotion is a heavyweight fight between Artem Suslenkov, 12-0 (7 KOs), and Agron Smakici, 21-2 (19 KOs).
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.