By Keith Idec

Michael Conlan will have to wait to try to get revenge on his Olympic nemesis.

Vladimir Nikitin has suffered a biceps injury that has forced the Russian featherweight prospect to withdraw from his upcoming fight with Conlan. They were supposed to meet August 3 in ESPN+ main event at Falls Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Conlan’s hometown.

The Athletic was the first to report Nikitin’s injury Thursday.

Carl Moretti, vice president of boxing operations for Top Rank Inc., told BoxingScene.com that the unbeaten Conlan still will headline a card August 3. The search is underway for a Nikitin’s replacement, but the event has lost some of its luster due to Conlan’s contentious history with Nikitin.

MTK Global Professional Development Coordinator and brother of Michael, Jamie Conlan said: “These things happen in boxing and we'll now be looking to bring in an opponent that’ll be a harder fight than Nikitin would have been.
 
“In some ways, Nikitin was a step back in terms of level and we all know it’s a match-up based on sentimentality. Instead, we’ll now seek a fight that will push Mick up the rankings quicker. It’ll be the hardest fight of his career.
 
"We are already in discussions with some high-class opponents to step up to the plate and we'll be bringing the public news on that - along with further attractive match-ups on the bill - as soon as we can, so stay tuned."

Conlan infamously stuck up his middle finger at the judges following his controversial loss to Nitikin in the bantamweight quarterfinals at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Bob Arum’s Top Rank signed the 29-year-old Nikitin (3-0) in large part to eventually match him against Conlan (11-0, 6 KOs), who has expressed a strong desire since he turned pro to avenge that Olympic loss in August 2016.

Top Rank began building toward a Conlan-Nikitin fight by placing them on the same St. Patrick’s Day card March 17 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Conlan, 27, beat Ruben Garcia Hernandez (25-4-2, 11 KOs) by unanimous decision in the 10-round main event that night. Nikitin won a six-round majority decision over Juan Tapia (8-3, 3 KOs) on the undercard.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.