By Jake Donovan
Oleksandr Gvozdyk is once again Philly-bound.
A two-belt light heavyweight unification bout between Ukraine’s Gvozdyk and Canada-based Russian knockout artist Artur Beterbiev has an official destination, as the Oct. 18 ESPN headliner will land at Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
The bout was previously confirmed by Beterbiev himself, the reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) titlist taking to social media to announce the hotly anticipated championship clash. The World Boxing Council (WBC)—whom recognizes Gvozdyk as its champion—confirmed Philadelphia as the hosting city for the event.
A hold had already been placed on the Liacouras Center, which also hosts Saturday’s ESPN+ livestream headlined by former super featherweight titlist Jason Sosa.
Gvozdyk (17-0, 14KOs) will make the second defense of his WBC—and World (lineal)—championship with the fight. The 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist from Ukraine scored a 5th round stoppage of Doudou Ngumbu this past March in front of a sold out crowd at the intimate 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Penn. The bout marked the first defense of the championship he claimed in an 11th round stoppage of Adonis Stevenson last December.
The drawback to a sold-out 2300 Arena was that the venue ultimately proved too small to house a full-scale ESPN telecast. Thus came the decision to take to Liacouras Center, a 10,200-seat multi-purpose venue on the campus of Temple University.
Upon his return to Philly, Gvozdyk will enter having scored knockout wins in in 10 of his past 11 starts. It’s still not as impressive as his opponent’s level of perfection in that domain.
Beterbiev (14-0, 14KOs) has literally been a knockout every time out in the pro ranks, a run he attributes to fighting at a lighter weight than during the amateurs. The two-time Olympian from Russia—who now lives and trains in Montreal, Canada—has not only stopped all 14 of his opponents to date, but has only been extended past round seven just once in his six-year career.
That moment came in his first title fight win, scoring a 12th round stoppage of Enrico Koelling in a Nov. 2017 ESPN-aired bout.
The win was part of a brutal run where he was fighting just once per year due to promotional and managerial issues. They’ve since been resolved as he signed with Top Rank and ESPN earlier this year. His return to the platform came this past May, when he stopped Radivoje Kalajdzic in the 5th round of their May 4th headliner in Stockton, Calif.
After the bout, Beterbiev, 34, called out all of the titlists at light heavyweight, to which Gvozdyk responded in a big way.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
