Former light heavyweight world champion, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, returns to action next month on the Canelo Alvarez vs. John Ryder homecoming undercard where he will face Ricards Bolotniks. The ‘first real fight’ since the Ukrainian fell at the hands of Artur Beterbiev well over three years ago.
A second world title run on the horizon, Gvozdyk talks exclusively to ProBox TV News about the changes he’s made behind the scenes.
Gvozdyk (18-1, 14 KOs) takes on Latvia’s Bolotniks (19-6-1, 8 KOs) on May 6, at the Estadio Akron, taking part in Canelo’s Mexican spectacle on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
“It is a good chance for me to show the world that I am still here and existing.” Laughed Gvozdyk. “It’s exciting to take part in a very nice show. I heard over 80,000 people are going to be there, so it’s very cool. I’ll have the third fight of the evening, after Canelo and the chief support.
“I’m taking this fight very seriously. First of all, don’t look at his record. He has six losses but this guy only started boxing ten years ago. I heard he switched from ice-hockey. He has three losses very early, but jumped in at a good level early. He’s still developing too, he beat a good guy in his last fight. I’m getting ready for a real tough fight, he’s a solid fighter.”
Boxing Community Still Fixated on Gvozdyk’s First Loss to Beterbiev
The industry will continue to look back on Gvozdyk’s first career defeat to Beterbiev until they see more activity from the Olympic bronze medalist. Many thought he had retired after failing to unify his division.
“Sometimes fighters lose fights, we just have to keep moving forward.” Gvozdyk continued. “I had a long pause because I was thinking I could do something else besides boxing, but it didn’t work out. There were circumstances in Ukraine and I had to leave it, but I wanted to come back. Now I’m fully recovered, fully replenished, and ready to go again.
“For me, this loss [against Beterbiev] is a good experience. It’s not good obviously, but it’s still a good experience to learn from. I think I did learn, now we will see different things from me. I'm coming to take back my belts..”
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