Who is Ralfs Vilcans, the man Anthony Yarde is fighting this Saturday?
Anthony Yarde marches back to the ring this weekend, on the undercard of Adam Azim vs Ohara Davies at the Copper Box Arena in London, live on Sky Sports.
Now 33, Yarde has been a big star in the UK for almost a decade now, also known around the globe for his two brave and exciting efforts against Sergey Kovalev and Artur Beterbiev in his two challenges for a world title.
But who is next opponent, Ralfs Vilcan, who isn’t well known on these shores.
Ralfs Vilcans (17-1, 7KO)
Ralfs Vilcans was born January 27, 1994, in Ogre, Latvia, and is currently 30-years-old.
His nickname is ‘The Train’.
He is the No.1 ranked light-heavyweight in Latvia.
He is 6′ 1″ tall, which is an inch taller than Yarde.
Ralfs won the WBC International light-heavyweight title in his 12th bout in May 2021, with a split decision victory over unbeaten German, Nick Hannig.
He won another title in his next fight, albeit the obscure IBA Intercontinental title, down at super-middleweight, making him a two-weight champion.
When challenging a Dane in Denmark, Vilcans was defeated widely by Jacob Bank in 2023 for the WBO European super-middleweight title, unable to win a single round of the scheduled 10.
He bounced back four months later to win the Latvian super-middleweight title in October last year.
His last fight in April was against Shefat Isufi, who British boxing fans will remember as the opponent Billy Joe Saunders defeated for the WBO World super-middleweight title back in 2019. Vilcans stopped the world title contender in two rounds in Munich to win the WBA Continental title.
He is ranked WBA #14 and IBO #26.
Ralfs is managed by Vadim Milov of LNK Boxing and trained by Normunds Varenburgs.
He and his partner, Baiba Vilcane, have a young child together.
