SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. – Undefeated light heavyweight Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk retained his WBC world title with a bizarre TKO victory over challenger Doudou Ngumbu on March 30 before a sold-out, standing-room only crowd of some 1,350 at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. In his first title defense since destroying Adonis Stevenson in a fight that left the Canadian in a medically induced coma, Gvozdyk secured a fifth-round stoppage win when Ngumbu suffered a calf injury. The fifth round had the Ukrainian in complete control of the bout when Ngumbu suddenly turned his back on the champion before grabbing onto the ropes and limping back to his corner.
Amid a raucous Ukrainian crowd chanting “Gvoz-dyk,” the reigning champ had little trouble handling Ngumbu before the stoppage, although he was disappointed with the way the fight went and its odd ending.
“It wasn’t what I expected, but I did my best,” Gvozdyk said in a post-fight interview on ESPN. “Sometimes this happens [in boxing]. It is what it is.”
The first round saw Gvozdyk start strong, nailing Ngumbu with a solid right hand, and the Congo native showing the style most expected from him – awkward with lots of herky-jerky moves. A left hook from Gvozdyk made contact in the fourth round, followed by a right, but Ngumbu’s constant movement precluded Gvozdyk from landing any effective combinations.
Gvozdyk, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, continued on the offensive in the fifth round, only to have Ngumbu suddenly come up limping. Apparently Ngumbu had injured his right calf and grabbed onto the ropes to gain some balance. Referee Eric Dali decided to grant Ngumbu time to recover, ruling an accidental foul, even though there was no contact and the fight should have been stopped. Finally Dali stopped the bout at 58 seconds when it was obvious Ngumbu could not walk off his injury.
Ngumbu (38-9, 14 KO), 37, eventually sat down in his corner and began to cry with disappointment at the outcome.
Per CompuBox statistics, Gvozdyk landed 47 of 204 punches (23 percent) and Ngumbu landed a mere 18 of 108 (17 percent).
With Gvozdyk’s first defense of his light-heavyweight world title, many in the boxing world questioned whether Gvozdyk could put aside the near-tragedy of his title-winning effort against Stevenson. The reality was there was no need for concern.
Gvozdyk (17-0, 14 KO), 31, was peppered with questions about his state of mind leading up to this fight. While he wished Stevenson the best and was happy to hear of his recovery, Gvozdyk insisted it would not have any impact on his approach in the ring in his second fight with trainer Teddy Atlas.
Having successfully defended his title, major fights ahead for Gvozdyk could include Artur Beterbiev (13-0, 13 KO) of Russia, who is scheduled to fight against Radivoje Kalajdzic (24-1, 17 KO) of Bosnia-Herzegovina on May 4, or Sergey Kovalev (33-3-1, 28 KO) of Russia – all big names promoted by Top Rank. Other potential matches may be Gilberto Ramirez (39-0, 25 KO) of Mexico and Eleider Alvarez (24-1, 12 KO) of Colombia, the former moving up from super middleweight.
Gvozdyk will not have a problem finding future competitive opponents, and Top Rank hinted there would probably be at least one unification fight prior to the end of the year. That is Gvozdyk’s targeted ambition.
“My goal is to unify titles,” he said after the Ngumbu bout. “I will wait to see what my team tells me to do next.”