IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KO) utilized a vicious body attack to wear down and defeat previously unbeaten WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (17-1, 14 KO) in the 10th round on October 18 in their unification match at the Liacouras Center on the campus of Temple University in Philadelphia. Gvozdyk more than held his own in the first five rounds before Beterbiev began wearing him down with his punishing shots, non-stop pressure and body attack.
It had been a close, competitive and exciting bout until Beterbiev steadily broke Gvozdyk down to unify two 175-pound title belts and claim the lineal title in the main event at the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card before 3,283 fans – many of them Ukrainians.
This was the first ever light heavyweight world title unification fight between undefeated titleholders.
Beterbiev’s inside fighting ability was paramount in his technical knockout victory. The power he was able to muster on his short punches in close was too much, with Gvozdyk showing the effects by the sixth round.
Gvozdyk, 32, was completely gassed, barely moving and very much hurt in the 10th round when Beterbiev dropped him to the canvas three times in the round before referee Gary Rosato stepped in and stopped the fight at 2:49 of round 10.
Gvozdyk got tangled up with Beterbiev in the opening round and was pushed to the mat without a punch landing. Referee Rosato’s ruling of a knockdown was overruled by Gregory Sirb of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission after looking at video replay.
Going into the fight, it was thought to be a toss-up with Beterbiev perhaps a slight favorite. This was a rematch of sorts, the two having met at a tournament in 2009 when the two-time Russian Olympian fighting out of Montreal stopped the 2012 Ukrainian Olympic bronze medalist fighting out of Oxnard, Calif., in the second round.
This time it took longer for Beterbiev to stop Gvozdyk, but his steady barrage of right hands wore Gvozdyk out. At the bout’s stoppage two judges actually had Gvozdyk ahead (87-84 and 86-85) and one had Beterbiev leading 87-83.
Round two saw Beterbiev land a huge right hand, which knocked Gvozdyk off balance. Gvozdyk asserted himself in the fourth round, unleashing a combination and forcing his opponent to the ropes. He landed several stiff jabs, backing him up, then Gvozdyk got nailed with a right hand at the bell.
Round six was filled with good two-way action. Gvozdyk landed good body shots and the round finished in an exciting exchange, with Beterbiev landing a right hand that stunned Gvozdyk. The Ukrainian went to the mat near the end of the round, but Rosato ruled it a slip.
Gvozdyk landed several clean shots in the eighth round, Beterbiev tied him up and then threw a shot while the referee was breaking them apart and was warned for the foul.
Beterbiev rebounded with a huge ninth round, landing several powerful right hands, hurting Gvozdyk, especially late. Gvozdyk absorbed an uppercut, followed by a right hand over the top which rocked him, looking like the end was near, until the bell ended the round.
Beterbiev, 34, making his third title defense, pressed the attack in the 10th and finally finished Gvozdyk off to keep his perfect knockout record intact.
Gvozdyk, making his second title defense, went down early in the 10th round, but Rosato ruled it was a push on his head. Seconds later, Beterbiev put him on the mat for real with a right hand, forcing him to one knee. Beterbiev followed with a combination left-right, flooring Gvozdyk for the second time. Hurting, Gvozdyk valiantly attempted to fight back until still another right punch to the head dropped him to a knee again, resulting in Rosato waving off the fight.
Gvozdyk had close friends and Olympic teammates Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk cheering him on. He was not available for comment after the fight because he was sent to a local hospital for precautionary reasons.
According to CompuBox, Beterbiev landed 161 of 515 punches (31 percent), while Gvozdyk connected with 118 of 614 blows (19 percent).
Gvozdyk earned $1.5 million for this unification bout and is rumored to be in line to potentially fight Gilberto Ramirez next.