Nikolay Potapov Will Face Stephen Young in Main Event on Shobox This Friday
Salita Promotions brings their cavalcade of international boxing stars to the Turning Stone Resorts Casino in Verona, NY this Friday for a Shobox: The New Generation tripleheader.
Headlining the card is a battle of unbeaten bantamweights Nikolay Potapov (14-0, 6 KOs) vs. Stephen Young (14-0-2, 6 KOs) for the NABA Bantamweight championship.
This bout will mark only the second appearance on US soil for the sharp shooter Potapov who is currently ranked No. 11 by the IBF.
“I’m so excited that the boxing world will get to see how good Potapov is on Friday night,” said his promoter Dmitriy Salita who signed the fighter from Podolsk, Russian the first chance he had.
“I kept hearing about how talented he was from folks who live and sleep in boxing gyms back in Russia and have watched Nikolay for years,” Salita added.
“It was a no brainier and I knew I just needed to bring him to the Unites States.”
In his first US bout, Potapov dominated Mexico’s Pedro Melo to win a 10 round unanimous-decision blowout. Potapov won every round on all three judges scorecards by throwing punches from different angles to keep Melo off balance.
“I had a good camp and I’m ready,” Potapov said this week as he winds down his preparation.
“I’m ready for as long as the fight lasts and look forward to fighting on Showtime. I told my team and Dmitriy that I want to face the best possible opponents. That’s why I’m here, that’s why we came to the Unites States. I want to test myself and this Friday will be a test.”
Potapov’s fans in his native Russia will also be able to watch the bout now as Salita Promotions announced this week that the popular Match TV has acquired the rights to broadcast the bout in Russia. British boxing promoter Frank Warren’s Box Nation has also picked up the rights to broadcast the telecast in the UK.
“I’m so humbled that these major networks are interested in our boxing cards,” said Salita.
“It just validates for us that there is a good amount of interested in watching young boxers from around the world as they get closer to world title bouts. My job is to continue to find outlets for the fighters to develop and build fan bases. We’re getting there.”
Salita is also very excited about his undefeated Dominican fighter Eudy Bernardo (21-0, 15 KOs) as he takes on Mason Menard (30-1, 22 KOs) in an eight-round bout.
“Wait until everyone sees Bernardo,” Salita said with a big smile. “Eudy is considered by many to be the best Dominican prospect out there and is one of the top lightweight prospects in the world. He might steal the show.”
The 5’11” Bernardo has power in both hands and is trained by former world champion, Frank Tate in Houston.
Rounding out the telecast is an intriguing cruiserweight bout between unbeaten prospect Alexey Zubov (10-0, 6 KOs) and fellow unbeaten prospect Constantin Bejenaru (10-0, 4 KOs) from Brooklyn.
Zubov is trained by Javon “Sugar” Hill at the world famous Kronk Gym in Michigan. Hill also trains light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson.
“I first saw Alexey at Kronk when he sparred with Jonathan Banks,” said Salita. “I was impressed with his work ethic and eagerness to learn. He’s wants to know everything and soaks it up like a sponge.”
