On June 18, undefeated boxer Artur Beterbiev will have to solve a difficult task – in front of the American public, to deal with an opponent from the United States, Joe Smith Jr. At stake are the championship belts of three prestigious boxing organizations at once – WBO, WBC and IBF.

At one time, Oleksandr Gvozdyk also tried to unify the titles in the light heavyweight category, and the Ukrainian decided to start his ambitious mission with a duel against Beterbiev. The choice of a boxer turned out to be unsuccessful – he brought a bright fighter not to world fame, but to a hospital ward.

A sad end to the career of a Ukrainian boxer!

Olympic medalist vs world champion

The birthplace of the fictional boxer Rocky Balboa, Philadelphia, in October 2019, hosted a fight between two bright representatives of the light heavyweight category from the post-Soviet space – Ukrainian Alexander Gvozdik and Russian Artur Beterbiev. The two champions tried to figure out who was stronger in a face-to-face meeting.

Undefeated Oleksandr Gvozdyk had the WBC championship belt, a series of 17 victories, 14 of which he managed to win ahead of schedule. As a bonus, there was the bronze of the 2012 Olympics and the gold of the Universiade-2013. Moreover, at the student games, they managed to defeat another hero of the generation, Dmitry Bivol, without a single blow. The Russian did not appear in the ring due to an injury.

Artur Beterbiev also approached the fight in the status of an undefeated world champion: he had an IBF belt at his disposal. The 34-year-old boxer had a little less victories in the professionals – 14. True, they managed to get everything by knockouts. In the amateur period of his career, a native of Khasavyurt won the world championship and twice took the gold of the European Championships.

Artur Beterbiev / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Pavel Bednyakov

By the way, the Russian amateur boxer already met Gvozdik in 2009 – he broke his opponent’s nose and won ahead of schedule. Nevertheless, before the meeting in professional boxing, the bookmakers gave a slight preference to the Ukrainian, believing that it was he who, following the results of the fight, would approach the title of light heavyweight king.

Mission Carnation

“My first goal was to win the world light heavyweight title. Now I want to combine the belts. This mission of mine begins with Artur Beterbiev. It will be an exciting fight that the fans will love. The fans have been waiting for this fight and we will put on a show. I know one thing – I will be the unified champion, – Boxingnews24 quoted Gvozdyk as confident in his abilities.

Alexander Gvozdyk / Photo: © Christian Petersen / Staff /Getty Images Sport/Gettyimages.ru

The fight was really exciting – Alexander did not lie. True, from the very beginning there were doubts about whether the Ukrainian could become a unified champion. Beterbiev was starving powerfully, without any reconnaissance, trying to inflict maximum damage on his opponent. Gvozdik responded with less heavy blows, moving more, intending to counterattack. At the same time, he could not find the ideal distance for himself and even got knocked down. But after a video replay, the referee’s original decision was overturned.

From the third to the sixth rounds, Arthur’s advantage was lost somewhere. Gvozdik got used to the ring and, with the exception of some episodes, looked preferable. His jab did not claim to be a knockout blow, but it gave the enemy a lot of problems. It seemed that if the fight lasted all 12 rounds, the victory could well go to the representative of Ukraine.

Beterbiev was better

By the middle of the fight, many fans of Beterbiev began to worry about their favorite, but it was not worth jumping to conclusions. Arthur began to regain the initiative already in the seventh round. Alexander, on the contrary, began to gradually give up, passing blows to the head and body. Gvozdik’s attempt to turn the tide of battle took a lot of his strength.

Photo: © Ethan Miller / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

By the 10th round, Gvozdik was no longer a big threat to the Russian boxer. Fatigue, missed shots and loss of concentration led to the fact that the Ukrainian now and then found himself on the floor. And no one has canceled these knockdowns. Having fallen for the third time, Alexander could not get up without the help of the referee – it was pointless to continue this beating.

I was worse, he was better. What do you want to hear? Specifically, on the shelves: I was not ready physically, realizing this, I got hooked mentally. How much porridge I haven’t eaten, do you want me to tell you? I don’t like that kind of talk. It’s better to prove something in the ring,” the Ukrainian explained the reasons for his defeat in an interview with a Luckypunch correspondent.

After the fight, the Ukrainian boxer even ended up in the hospital, from where he was discharged a few days later. Having suffered the first defeat in his professional career, the 32-year-old Gvozdyk decided to end his sports career. Alexander himself did not name the reasons for leaving the sport, however, experts pointed to a number of factors: health problems, psychology and banal boxing fatigue – the Ukrainian temporarily decided to switch his attention to business.

Beterbiev also held two successful defenses – in Moscow and Montreal. And now Arthur is preparing to risk his two belts in New York for the opportunity to become a WBO world champion.