An interview with Oleksandr Gvozdyk, the WBC light heavyweight champion

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– Isn’t it risky for Top Rank to put its champions against each other? Was it a good idea?
– To establish a reputation, to win the hearts of the fans, you need good fights. You can’t become a star fighting opponents like my last one.

– Who of the three champions do you consider the most inconvenient opponent for you: Kovalev, Bivol or Beterbiev?
– All of the LHW champions are very good. Beterbiev can punch, he’s a tank difficult to keep away from you. Bivol is very technical and fast. Kovalev is somewhere in between, he can definitely punch and he’s very skillful. It’s difficult for me to single out just one – they are all tough opponents.

– Can you rank them?
– I won’t do that. There can be millions of rankings, but they don’t always correlate with the reality. Styles make fights. Sometimes you look good against one opponent and not so impressive against the other. In order to really know how good you are, you need to fight them. Now the LHW division is very interesting, there’s no obvious favorite.

– Once you said that you wouldn’t fight Kovalev because you’re friends with him.
– Well, yes, in fact. I can’t say we are friends, more like acquaintances. We train in the same gym, have one manager, see each other a lot. Because of all this, I guess I would like to box him the last. But, again, if there is a good offer on the table, I can change my mind.

– Lately there were lots of talking about Canelo moving up and fighting Kovalev. Do you consider him too small for the division? What do you think about that fight?
– If Canelo wants it, it’s an amazing opportunity for Sergey. Canelo is a great champion and a boxer , but you can also earn a lot of money fighting him. … I don’t recommend skipping such opportunity.

– Would you now agree to fight an opponent of Ngumbu level?
– There are a lot of factors to consider. And I don’t even deal with that questions anymore. It’s up to my trainer Teddy Atlas, whom I trust 100%. If, in his opinion, I need a fight like that, I’m all for it. If, in his opinion, it’s better for me to unify, I am even more all for it.

– Oh, so it’s Teddy Atlas who decides if a specific opponent is a good match for you stylistically?
– Yes.

– But it wasn’t always like that?
– Correct. I used to talk to my manager, he gave me several choices and I said “yes” or “no”. I always said “yes”. But now it’s up to my trainer to decide.

– I always thought that the final word belongs to the boxer…
– And you were right. He can’t force me to fight someone. I can say “no”. But I trust my trainer and I’m ready to box anyone he chooses.

…

– From all your professional fights, which is the one you recall most often, and which one was the biggest lesson for you?
– I can’t say I think about my fights too often. But, I guess it’s my fight against Stevenson, because it’s my biggest achievement, my dream come true, the result of my cooperation with Teddy Atlas. It was a lot of positive emotions, which were obviously marred by what happened to Stevenson… But, thanks god, he’s almost completely recovered already.

– Have you met him after that? Maybe his family?
– No, I haven’t.

– After that fight a lot of people were claiming that boxing’s very dangerous…
– And it is…

– Some of my friends don’t even want that their kids to start boxing anymore...
– I would argue with that. Boxing is not the most injury-prone sport. Yes, sometimes it happens, but it’s usually not the boxing itself but wrong approaches to it. It’s possible that Stevenson had lost a lot of weight for our fight, I don’t know. Life itself is a dangerous thing. If you want to be 100% safe, you need to stay at home in your bed under a blanket.
To be fair, it’s a difficult question. I would want my son to box. Boxing is an art of defense, but it’s not always easy. But what can you do? You can stumble walking in the street, and break your head against the asphalt.

– From all your opponents which landed their punches on you, was he the hardest puncher?
– Without any doubt.

– But that knockdown from Karpensy, was it a flash one..?
– It wasn’t a flash but a real knockdown. But to knock someone down, it’s not always that a heavy punch is needed. The punch needs to be unexpected, timed well, and, most importantly, it’s when you don’t see it coming. That’s exactly what happened against Karpensy. I can’t say he has no power – Karpensy can punch, but he’s not a big puncher either. It’s just that I wasn’t ready for that specific punch. We had been in a clinch, and I was expecting a “stop” command from the referee, when Karpency caught me.
But with Stevenson, when he hit me in the second round, I felt the canvas through my heels… At that moment it became obvious to me that I couldn’t allow those punches to land on me.

– You have sparred Sergey Kovalev. Who hits harder: he or Stevenson?
– They’re different. But, I think Stevenson hits harder. Having said that, Sergey is heavy-handed as well, and he has that killer instinct. If Kovalev catches you, it’s difficult to get away from him. He’s very sharp. I can’t say that Kovalev punches super hard, but he has one punch KO power. His punches are precise and sharp.

– According to Usyk, you were hitting him really hard during your sparrings. And how were his punches?
– He also hits very hard. Alex weighs about 100 kilos and he’s been boxing for more that 15 years. So, if a person like that punches you, how would you feel? And if you don’t see those punches coming, there’s a good chance your lights would go out.

– But, nevertheless, is he more a technical boxer than a puncher?
– I would say yes, but Usyk can punch, for sure. He doesn’t always use that power, because when you’re trying to knock your opponent out, you become open yourself. Alex prefers to work as a technician. But, trust me, he can punch really hard.

– Do you hit harder than Usyk?
– I don’t know. It’s difficult to tell.

– Do you think that Kovalev is more popular in the boxing world than some other champions due to how he conducts himself? He’s insolent, he can trash-talk…
– First of all, don’t forget that Kovalev was a unified champion with three belts. He beat Bernard Hopkins, Pascal (twice), knocked out a lot of his opponents in the US. Second, Sergey doesn’t play a role – he’s like that in the real life as well.

– You are more civil and polite. Maybe because of that it’s difficult for you to get a top opponent and big money fights? Have you thought about becoming more rough?
– I just can’t do that. I can’t change myself to get more hype. It’s just the way I am and I don’t want to change.
Maybe Sergey’s approach is more profitable and effective. But I just can’t insult my opponents when they don’t insult me. That’s it…

– What do you think about Gilberto Ramirez, who could become your opponent as well? Have you watched his fights?
– Of course. And I’ve even sparred him. He’s a real challenge for me. Not an insurmountable obstacle, but he’s a tough fighter with a 40-0 record. He’s an undefeated champion and a southpaw on top of that.
But if your question is am I ready to beat him? Yes, I think I’m ready. I’m sure I will beat him. But it won’t be easy.

– He’s moving up in weight, how will that affect him?
– Anthropometrically, he’s even bigger than me.

– So, are his bones lighter..?
– No. He just used to dehydrate a lot. In fact, it’s possible for me to move down to 168 as well. But it will be difficult. … A lot of Mexicans lose and gain a lot of weight. So, we’re of the same size with Ramirez, or he’s even bigger than me.

– Do you have any plans to test yourself at cruiserweight?
– I don’t have any problems making weight for the LHW. And I have work to do at this division. I’ve got only one belt now, need to get three more. And that means at least three more fights. … In fact, I would rather move down to 168 than go up to CW.
…

 

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– Does it annoy you that it’s so difficult in boxing to organize unification fights?
– I understand why it is so. So, it’s like getting annoyed because of a broken light bulb in a bathroom, or when your car doesn’t start. It won’t help.

– How did you meet Egis Klimas? 10 years ago nobody really knew anything about him, but now he’s almost like a kingmaker for Ukrainian and other post-Soviet boxers.
– Through Vasya Lomachenko. It’s simple. Vasya had signed earlier than me, he already had one fight in America. I also decided to choose that path. Why experiment when your friend is already working with someone and is speaking well about him? He asked Egis: “Are you interested?”. Egis replied: “I am”. That’s how we met.

– What exactly does a manager do? In your case it’s Egis Klimas.
– A boxing manager’s main job is to organize fights. He’s like an intermediary between a boxer and a promoter.

– I understand that, but it looks like Egis has become more than just an employee for a lot of post-Soviet boxers.
– Exactly. Basically, you need to trust your manager, because it’s a person who represents you. He knows all about your problems, your finances, your abilities. Because of that, your relationship just cannot be “business only”. And in our case Egis even sometimes invites his boxers to his home. Our relationships are not father-son, of course, but they are friendly and comfortable.

…

– In the spring there were news that you would extend your contract with Top Rank, which ends next year. Any new information about it?
– No, nothing new at this point. All promotional companies draft their contracts in a very tricky way. I’ve found out that my contract doesn’t really expires (soon)… So, I will be with TR for a couple of years, at least.

– Maybe the point is that they did organize a championship fight for you?
– Well, partially yes, but it’s more complicated than that. There are nuances… I’m not ready to discuss it anymore now.

– Do you consider professional boxing unfair? When you come into the ring and knock out your opponent – that’s it. But, at the same time, we saw the scorecards from your fight with Stevenson. Or even your semifinal from the Olympics.
– I think that life itself is unfair. There is really no truth. All that they tell us from the TV screens is not true. There are laws that everyone is aware of, some moral code, but in reality it’s all different. Politics, sport, business, show-business – they are all unfair. The strong are triumphant everywhere. And in boxing as well, of course. So, I should have knocked that guy out at the Olympics. But I wasn’t able to... I did it with Stevenson, though!

– Is amateur boxing more unfair, because there are less rounds?
– It’s difficult to say where it’s easier to become a world champion. There are hurdles everywhere. I think the corruption exists in both amateur and professional boxing.

…

– Already as a professional or even as an amateur boxer, have you ever fought someone in the streets?
– When you’re a boxer, it’s inadvisable to fight someone like that. And I’m not even talking about possible injuries that you can inflict on that person. It’s just that your hands are your “bread”. And you can easily break them in a bare-knuckle fight… I guess it was 2007 when I decided to stop boxing. At that time I was in a couple of (street) fights. But I don’t want to talk about it.

– What was your biggest purse so far, the fight vs. Stevenson?
– No. Ngumbu.

– It was rumoured to be around $750 000, how much of that did you retain?
– First of all, it was more than that. Second, to make it short, without going into detail, a boxer is left with approximately a half of the announced sum. You pay your trainers, taxes, etc.

– If we add your half and the half you pay as costs, have you ever earned more than a million?
– No.

– Will you earn a million for the upcoming fight?
– More than a million.

– Do you still enjoy boxing?
– Yes.

– What is your favorite part: a ring entrance, a fight itself or a press-conference?
– I've been boxing for 22 years. A lot of guys of my age already have beer-bellies, but I'm in shape. I really like that. And I like to win, to show good boxing. Unfortunately, it's not always possible.

– When was it that you were not able to show good boxing?
– A million of times.

– The Mehdi fight, probably?
– Even in my last fight, I could've done it better. And the fight you mentioned was almost a disaster.

– It was after that fight that you decided to change the trainer, and to start working with Atlas?
– Let's be realistic. Had I faced Stevenson in a shape that I was in during the Amar fight, Adonis would've knocked me out in the first five rounds. 100%. It's not a thorn in my old trainer's side, but just a reality.

– How exactly did Atlas prepare you?
– I think it was more psychological, my attitude. He kept me focused and disciplined. That's important. Sometimes, when you walk into the ring you feel that you're focused, you're sharp. But during the Amar fight I was in excellent shape physically, but it felt like my body was in the ring, but my mind was somewhere else… I was just doing something, but it wasn't coherent. And Teddy has changed that — he made my mind and body work together.

– Are you still working with a sport psychologist?
– No. Teddy is now a psychologist, a trainer and a mentor to me — all three in one.

– Does a boxer need a psychologist?
– I think yes.

– Does Anthony Joshua need a psychologist now?
– I don't even know what's happening to him. He wasn't himself against Ruiz — that's for sure. It was obvious even before the fight. … He had climbed to the top, earned a lot of money — not just in purses, but from advertising as well. He had been preparing for another opponent, which was more like a sacrificial lamb from the start, so maybe he underestimated Ruiz. Also that stories that AJ was knocked out during one of the sparring sesstions. I guess that could be partially true as well.

So, maybe he does need a psychologist, but it's difficult for me to say looking from the outside. A sport psychologist doesn't help you with "Come on, you can do it! Your mom believes in you!" stuff, but he knows which lever to pull to help you work more and stay focused.
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https://ua.tribuna.com/tribuna/blogs/boxing/2515109.html

 

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Well, he's been living in the US with his family all these years, in fact. Only relatively short trips to Ukraine.