Former WBC light heavyweight titleholder Oleksandr ‘The Nail’ Gvozdyk 20-1 (16) has tipped reigning WBC, WBO and IBF champion Artur Beterbiev 20-0 (20) to defeat WBA counterpart Dmitry Bivol 22-0 (11) when they meet in Saudi Arabia on June 1.
The 36-year-old Ukrainian lost his world championship bout to Russian-born Canadian Beterbiev, 39, by 10th round knockout in their unification bout four-and-a-half years ago.
Kyrgyzstan-born Russian Bivol, 33, scored a breakout win when he outpointed undisputed super middleweight champion and pound-for-pound stalwart Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez 60-2-2 (39) two years ago.
But despite Bivol’s obvious boxing skill, Gvozdyk is backing Beterbiev’s strength, power and ring savvy to win the day.
“I would bet on Beterbiev,” Gvozdyk told ProBox TV. “I’ve never fought or sparred with Bivol, so it is hard to understand if he will be able to handle Beterbiev’s power.
“Bivol has great footwork, but Beterbiev knows how to cut those angles very well. I think Beterbiev can hold him close to the ropes. If you watch Bivol-Canelo he holds Bivol against the ropes, but Beterbiev’s power is on another level.
“That’s where Bivol will get in trouble with Beterbiev, unless he can use his footwork to get out of trouble there. I think Beterbiev will be too much for him.”
Gvozdyk and Bivol came close to sharing the ring as amateurs in the 2013 Summer Universiade final before the latter was forced to withdraw with injury. Gvozdyk the gold medal by walkover.
“We were meant to fight each other in the final of the world championships in Kazan [Russia] in 2013, when I won the gold medal,” Gvozdyk said. “He injured his hand or something; he had some fracture or something. I got the gold medal without a fight.”
Gvozdyk added: “He is a great fighter, but I personally think Bivol is overrated. He is good, don’t get me wrong. He is probably one of the best in the division right now, but people seem to think he is invincible. I don’t think so; I don’t think Beterbiev thinks so either.
“Soon we are going to see a very tough fight for Bivol. I favour Beterbiev, not like he is supposed to run him over. I think it will be an interesting fight, but I always think Beterbiev will win.
“If the fight was going to go the distance, I would probably edge it to Bivol, but I don’t think it will. This is how Beterbiev wins the fights – he stops people. When he was fighting with me and with [Anthony] Yarde, he was trailing on the cards, but then he just did the job. I think the same will be with Bivol.”
Gvozdyk returned to the ring last year after a three year layoff following his loss to Beterbiev. He hopes to be back in the ring soon.
“I was promised fights in March and May. There is no specific date or opponents yet. It would be great to box on March 30th as part of the Premier Boxing Champions show from Amazon,” Gvozdyk said.
“I hope this will work out, but the opponent will most likely not be from the top 10. Then I want to fight on the undercard of the Canelo fight, he usually fights in May. That’s my plan.”
