Junior middleweight contender Serhii Bohachuk suffered a bump on his path toward the upper echelon in the division, but is back on track towards that goal.

Bohachuk faces Nathaniel Gallimore tonight at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello, California. The 10-round bout will headline a Hollywood Fight Nights card and will stream live on UFC Fight Pass (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT). 

The Ukraine-born Bohachuk (21-1, 21 knockouts), who now lives and trains in Los Angeles, California, last fought on November 3, knocking out Aaron Coley in the second round. It was Bohachuk’s first fight in over a year, knocking out Raphael Igbokwe. 

After the war broke out between Ukraine and Russia last February, Bohachuk joined Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk in the Ukraine army. He was given permission by the Ukraine government to leave the army and resume his boxing career.

Promoter Tom Loeffler hopes to put Bohachuk in position to fight on bigger platforms later this year. Bohachuk must get by Gallimore. 

“Bohachuk was in Ukraine for six months during the war (against Russia),” Loeffler told BoxingScene earlier this week. “Once he was able to come back to the United States, he was always motivated, but I see that he’s more motivated, especially working with (trainer) Manny Robles. He just won the WBC Continental Americas title. He’s making his first title defense against Nathaniel Gallimore, who fought Sebastian Fundora, Jeison Rosario, Julian Williams. So he’s fought a lot of world class fighters. So we’re excited about Bohachuk’s fight.” 

The 27-year-old has won his last three fights since suffering the only loss of his pro career at the hands of Brandon Adams in March 2021. 

Gallimore (22-6-1, 17 KOs), who resides in Des Plaines, Illinois, is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Fiodor Czerkaszyn on November 5. The 34-year-old has lost five of his last seven fights. 

In the co-feature, featherweight Omar Cande Trinidad (10-0-1, 8 KOs) of Los Angeles will square off against Oxnard’s Jose Luis Ramirez (28-8, 16 KOs) in an eight-round bout. 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene.com since 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing