WATCH: Conlan all set for Rio revenge
Belfast boxer will fight Nikitin for first time since Olympics controversy
Last updated 15th May 2019
Michael Conlan has the chance to earn redemption from his Rio Olympics controversy as he will again fight Russian Vladimir Nikitin.
Conlan memorably exited the 2016 Olympic Games at the quarter-final stage of the 56-kilogram competition by offering the judges a middle-finger salute after they awarded a controversial win to the Russian.
Now both professionals, the pair will do battle again in a 10-round featherweight battle in Belfast on Saturday, August 3.
"I am delighted that I will be fighting Vladimir Nikitin in front of 10,000 fans,'' Conlan said.
"This is literally home turf for me and it is absolutely huge. I am West Belfast and Falls Road born and bred so this means everything to me.
"Vladimir Nikitin and I have unfinished business from the 2016 Olympics, and I can't wait to set the record straight.''
Nikitin, though, who has won all three of his professional fights, is ready to prove Conlan was not cheated by the judges.
"When I turned professional last year, the man I wanted to fight most was Michael Conlan,'' Nikitin said.
"Michael has said a lot of things since the Olympics about how he was robbed of a medal. Well, I am coming to his hometown during their biggest festival to show everyone my Olympic victory was not a fluke.
"This is going to be repeat, not revenge. Conlan will regret pushing for this fight. I beat him twice in the amateurs and will do the same as a pro.
"It will feel even sweeter to beat him in his hometown."
Meanwhile, Carl Frampton is eyeing up a return to the ring in August - in the US.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said: "Frampton is fighting in August in the US, and then he'll fight for a championship in probably November, December.
"He was going to fight on August 3 but then that date went to Michael Conlan. I'm going to Belfast, where Conlan will fight. Later on in August, maybe the 10th or the 23rd, he'll be fighting. He'll be top of the bill."