Oleksandr Gvozdyk faces Anthony Hollaway on April 19 on the Frontwave Enviornment in Oceanside, CA. The pair battle it out on the undercard of Gabriela Fundora vs Marilyn Badillo. The competition is scheduled for 8 rounds at gentle heavyweight.
Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs) seems to be to return to profitable methods after dropping a unanimous determination to David Benavidez final June, which snapped his three-fight profitable streak. The 38-year-old former world champion from Ukraine takes on Hollaway (9-7-3, 7 KOs) of Peoria, IL, who goals for his third straight victory.
Former WBC 175-pound titleholder Gvozdyk misplaced his belt by way of Tenth-round TKO towards Artur Beterbiev in October 2019. Forward of the occasion, the previous champion broke down the sunshine heavyweight division, additionally saying he wished to face former tremendous middleweight champion Callum Smith, who at the moment holds the interim WBO strap.
“Gentle heavyweight is without doubt one of the most fun divisions proper now in boxing,” Oleksandr Gvozdyk mentioned. “There was a time proper after Roy Jones Jr. when there wasn’t loads of tremendous curiosity. However then, throughout my early time, we had Sergey Kovalev, [Adonis] Stevenson, Jean Pascal, and Bernard Hopkins within the gentle heavyweight division.”
“It was good, however now now we have an undisputed world gentle heavyweight champion [Dmitry Bivol], a former undisputed world champion [Beterbiev], two world interim champions [David Benavidez and Callum Smith], one former world interim champion [Joshua Buatsi], and three Olympians [Beterbiev, Buatsi, Albert Ramirez].”
‘I’m not saying Benavidez can beat Bivol; he might together with his energy…’
“Bivol is so expert, with such a excessive boxing IQ. I used to be speculated to battle him [in the amateurs] on the 2013 World College Championships, however was injured and couldn’t battle, and I grew to become champion. He’s the perfect gentle heavyweight on this planet. He’s full – pace, footwork, the whole lot. In his first battle towards Beterbiev, Bivol confirmed just a little weak spot going the space. To be the perfect, it’s important to beat the perfect, and Bivol did of their second battle.”
Speaking about Beterbiev, Gvozdyk mentioned, “First, it’s his energy. He’s a naturally sturdy man who can harm opponents, particularly when he will get them on the ropes. A number of the sooner guys may give him some hassle – he’s 40 – however he neutralizes what his opponents do effectively.”
“Benavidez has great hand pace and places on relentless strain. I’m not saying he can beat Bivol; he might together with his energy, however I’d nonetheless choose Bivol.”
“I’d actually prefer to battle Smith for his title. He’s good, skilled, and has jab. I consider I can beat him to grow to be champion.”
“Anthony Yarde is an effective, stable fighter who has expertise and a bodily sport. He’s a aggressive fighter and a type of fighters, to be respectful, on my radar. He has type.”
“I truthfully don’t know very a lot about Albert Ramirez – not sufficient to interrupt him down. I want to review him.”
“Buatsi was the (WBO) interim champion till Smith lately beat him in battle. He has good arms and was newbie, taking gold on the Olympics.”
In his subsequent battle, Oleksandr Gvozdyk goes up towards Anthony Hollaway, who’s coming off two straight victories. The 31-year-old took a cut up determination towards Granit Stein in late 2024 and stopped Ricky Frausto within the second spherical final November.
In the primary occasion, Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) of Palm Seashore, FL makes the primary protection of her undisputed flyweight title towards Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) of Mexico. The co-main occasion pits Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) of Cleveland Heights, Ohio towards Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) of Mexico at tremendous welterweight.
Amongst different bouts featured on the Fundora vs Badillo undercard, Tristan Kalkreuth (14-1, 10 KOs) of Carrollton, TX meets former interim WBA gentle heavyweight champion Felix Valera (23-7, 20 KOs) of the Dominican Republic. Joel Iriarte (6-0, 6 KOs) of Bakersfield, CA and Puerto Rico’s Marcos Jimenez (25-11, 17 KOs) conflict at welterweight. Uzbekistan-born Kazakh Ruslan Abdullaev (1-0, 1 KO) meets Jino Rodrigo (13-4-2, 11 KOs) of the Philippines at tremendous light-weight.
