Boxing
Artur Beterbiev, Oleksandr Gvozdyk set to unify light heavyweight titles on Oct. 18
Undefeated champions and easily two of the most bruising boxers in the sport today, Artur Beterbiev and Oleksandr Gvozdyk, are about to decide who’s the baddest.
On Saturday night during the Emanuel Navarrete-Francisco De Vaca card, Top Rank officially announced that WBC light heavyweight champion Gvozdyk (17-0, 14 KOs) will face IBF titleholder Beterbiev (14-0, 14 KOs) in a title unification bout Oct. 18 at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.
Both fighters can’t wait for the opportunity to step into the ring in two months and leave as unified light heavyweight champion of the world.
“My first goal was to win a light heavyweight world title. Now I want to unify the belts and that mission starts with Artur Beterbiev,” Gvozdyk said in a press release statement. “This is going to be a spectacular fight, one that the fans will enjoy. The fans asked for this fight and we will deliver. One thing I know is that I will be the unified champion.”
Beterbiev is equally thrilled, knowing that becoming unified champion is a big step toward eventually being crowned undisputed ruler of 175 pounds.
“This will be a great fight between the two champions who aspire to become the undisputed light heavyweight world champion,” he said. “I am looking forward to stepping into the ring on October 18.”
Gvozdyk took the WBC title with an 11th-round KO of Adonis Stevenson in December. “The Nail” followed that up by disposing of Doudou Ngumbu via fifth-round TKO in March in Philadelphia, where he drew solid support from his native Ukrainian fans. This will mark Gvozdyk’s third fight under the guidance of renowned trainer Teddy Atlas.
Meanwhile, Beterbiev has recorded finishes in all of his 14 pro fights, including his fourth-round KO of Callum Johnson in October and his fifth-round KO of Radivoje Kalajdzic in May.
Top Rank chairman Bob Arum has reason to believe that these two undefeated light heavyweight champions could produce fireworks in the form of the fight of 2019.
“This could very well be the fight of the year,” Arum said. “These are two evenly matched, undefeated light heavyweight champions.
"There is nothing better in the sport of boxing.”
