Gvozdyk: The Other Forgotten Oleksandr ~ The Brilliant Light Heavyweight Lomachenko.

Much has been made of the brilliance of Usyk, but another Oleksandr is deserving of your attention as well.:deal

Oleksandr Gvozdyk is a 6'3 Ukrainian Light Heavyweight who turned pro in April of 2014 3 days before his 27th birthday on the HBO televised portion of the undercard of Pacquiao-Bradley 2 which really got my hopes up, it showed me that Bob Arum and Top Rank were somewhat enthusiastic about their prospect and believed in him so much that they put his debut match on HBO, much like Lomachenko made his debut on the undercard of Bradley-Marquez, but since then my hopes have been dashed by their terrible mishandling of his career thus far. While his other countrymen fighting for TR, Haymon and K2 are making an impact by getting title shots in their second match, or headlining ESPN and ShoBox cards, or a bonafide megastar in the making in Ukraine, poor Gvozdyk is toiling away in the obscurity of the untelevised portions of Unimas Solo Boxeo cards fighting opponents far below his true level he should be competing with the Krasniqi's Campillo's and Vlasov's of the division. Either out of fear of matching him against top opposition too soon as Arum did with Loma or just lack of faith in his ability to become a star, or just Arum not giving a damn about anyone on his roster except for the same tired ass old fighters he's been shoving down our throats for the last half a decade, Arum just doesn't seem to even be aware of what a talent he has working for him. Which is a real pity in light on how quickly fighters from Eastern Europe have been moved along in their careers such as Beterbiev, Khytrov, Lomachenko and Usyk, and how well they've been received by the public, Gvozdyk could become the next breakout star from that part of the world but Arum is so far out of the loop he's completely missing the boat on this particular fighter. Which is really frustrating the hell out of me.

Gvozdyk was robbed of his opportunity to fight for Gold in the London Olympic Games in one of the more questionable decisions of 2012, he lost on countback to the very skilled slick southpaw from Kazakhstan Adilbek Niyazymbetov which in my eyes and many others as well was a clear robbery, causing him to only end up winning Bronze, and missing out on a chance at a rematch with eventual Gold Medalist and fellow ignored Top Rank stablemate Egor Mekhontsev, the two fought before and had a close match with Mekhontsev getting the better of Gvozdyk at the time. He was also robbed of his opportunity to stand atop the podium like Ukraine's other more well known Oleksandr and other fellow countryman Vasyl Lomachenko with whom he shares many stylistic similarities. He in my opinion is the best all around fighter of the current crop of Eastern Europeans taking the division by storm. Beterbiev as good as he is and as brutal as he is lacks the finesse and overall skill level of Oleksandr, as does Mekhontsev whose style hasn't translated as well to the pro ranks either.

Gvozdyk has elite level skill his footwork is brilliant and very subtle constantly making little adjustments to get himself into the right position at the right time to land on his opponents and a half step back to get out of harm's way, which also aides in his ability to cut off the ring effortlessly, his smooth defense is as subtle as his footwork, he rolls and slips punches so quickly and seamlessly that the eye barely catches it unless you're really paying attention to it, much like Lomachenko or even Pirog be it in close or just out of range. His punch placement and accuracy is immaculate his piston like straight right is crisp, sharp and brutal, he controls distance quite well with his left jab which he also uses as a range finder with which to set up his straight rights and hooks to the head and to the body perfectly, his hooks to the body are quick and precise and purposeful aimed at doing the most damage possible similar to Loma's amazing body work that breaks down and eventually incapacitates most of his opponents. Gvozdyk's uppercuts are nasty and once again subtle but very effective, oh and he's also pretty heavy handed and a underrated counter puncher. All around he is an incredibly well rounded fighter who is in all probability already a top 5 Light Heavyweight who just hasn't been given the chance to prove it yet. And if he was he'd most likely soar to the top of the rankings, which is ironic for a promotion called Top Rank who should see what a talent they have before them and what he is truly capable of, and try allowing him to be their namesake.

So please do yourself a favor and investigate this fighter from the amazing Ukrainian 2012 Olympic Team as thoroughly as you possibly can, he could be a breakout star if given the chance to shine and flourish that he so rightfully deserves. He's handsome, he speaks English very well and he is trained by Robert Garcia out of Oxnard. Its time for Oleksandr Gvozdyk to rise from the shadows and take his rightful place alongside the other heralded Eastern European fighters and become yet another force to be reckoned with in the increasingly great division and hopefully get the attention he deserves.

The Nail is next level and needs to be allowed a chance to prove it.:deal

[emoji615] This is his dismantling of Cory Cummings a decent fighter whose only stoppage loss came at the hands of Isaac Chilemba when his corner decided to pull him out in 7.

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[emoji615] This is his one round absolutely nasty jaw dropping destruction of Mike Montoya in Gvozdyk's pro debut.

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[emoji615] This is his controversial loss to Niyazymbetov at the 2012 Olympics.

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[emoji615] This is his dismantling of Heavyweight Subacius.

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Nikolay Manger Memorial - Kherson, Ukraine - May 15-19 2012

2012-05-?? 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Enver Tuktarov UKR 18:3
2012-05-18 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Mykola Burdyugov UKR AB 1
2012-05-19 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Sergiy Lapin UKR 15:8

World University Championships - Kazan, Russia - September 20-27 2008

2008-09-22 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Don Shange RSA KO 1
2008-09-25 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Sergey Korneyev BLR 11:7
2008-09-27 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Daniyar Ustembayev KZK 14:6

Sergey Dzindziruk Awards National Tournament - Brovary - January 28-31 2009

2009-01-30 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Andriy Zelenyak AB 3
2009-01-31 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Enver Tuktarov 11:2

Summer Universiade
Kazan, Russia
July 5-10, 2013

2013-07-07 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Ainar Karlson EST 3:0
2013-07-08 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Hyeong-Kyu Kim KOR TKO 3
2013-07-09 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Mikhail Dauhaliavets BLR 3:0
2013-07-10 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Dmitriy Bivol RUS WO.

World Series of Boxing

2013-05-11 85kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Ukrainian Otamans Ehsan Rozbahani IRN Astana Arlans TKO 3
2011-12-09 85kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Moscow Daniyar Ustembayev KZK Astana TKOI 3
2012-02-17 85kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Moscow Ludovic Groguhe FRA Paris PTS
2013-02-08 85kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Ukrainian Otamans Vitalijus Subacius LTU Italia Thunder 3:0
2013-01-11 85kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Ukrainian Otamans Babacar Kamara SWE British Lionhearts 3:0
2013-03-22 85kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Ukrainian Otamans Vladimir Cheles MLD Azerbaijan Baku Fires KO 5
2012-03-30 85kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Moscow Abdelhafid Benchebla ALG Astana PTS
2012-05-02 85kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Moscow Imre Szello HUN Milan PTS

Ukrainian National Championships - Kryvyi Rih - March 17-22 2009

2009-03-17 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Olexandr Babanov RSC 2
2009-03-19 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Vitaliy Merinov RSC
2009-03-20 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Dmytro Smagula 12:4
2009-03-22 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Vyacheslav Shabranskiy 12:3

EUBC European Cup - Kharkov, Ukraine - October 22-23 2010

2010-10-22 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Pavel Bykov RUS 10:3
2010-10-23 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Ainar Karlson EST RSC 3

Ukrainian National Championships - Sumy - February 9-14 2010
2010-02-09 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Olexandr Babanov ???
2010-02-10 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Andriy Zelenyak 5:0
2010-02-12 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Sergiy Lapin 3:0
2010-02-14 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik Ivan Senay 6:5

Nurmagambetov Memorial - Almaty, Kazakhstan
- May 9-14 2011
2011-05-10 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Gafurov UZB AB 1
2011-05-11 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Levan Guledani GRG 13:6
2011-05-13 81kg Anton Pinchuk KZK Olexandr Gvozdik UKR WO.

Olympic Games - London, Great Britain - July 28 - August 12 2012

2012-07-30 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Mikhail Dauhaliavets BLR 18:10
2012-08-04 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Osman Bravo NIC 18:6
2012-08-08 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Abdelhafid Benchebla ALG 19:17
2012-08-10 81kg Adilet Niyazimbetov KZK Olexandr Gvozdik UKR +13:13

World Cup of Petroleum Countries - Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia - December 17-20 2009

2009-12-18 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Sergey Kuzmin BLR 8:2
2009-12-19 81kg Nikita Ivanov RUS Olexandr Gvozdik UKR WO.

Makar Mazay Memorial - Mariupol, Ukraine -
July 5-9 2011

2011-07-06 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Andrei Sari MLD AB 1
2011-07-08 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Nikolay Afanasiadi UKR 20:13
2011-07-09 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Elshod Rasulov UZB WO

AIBA World Championships - Baku, Azerbaijan -
September 26 - October 8 2011

2011-09-28 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Jovan Young JAM RSCH 1
2011-10-02 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Imre Szello HUN 25:11
2011-10-04 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Ramil Aliyev AZE 17:15
2011-10-05 81kg Egor Mekhontsev RUS Olexandr Gvozdik UKR 27:21

World Championships - Milan, Italy - September 1-12 2009

2009-09-04 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Nikolajs Grisunins LAT 14:6
2009-09-06 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Assane Faye SNG RSCI 3
2009-09-07 81kg Rene Krause GER Olexandr Gvozdik UKR +2:2

Turkish Prime Ministry Tournament - Ankara, Turkey - April 7-11 2010

2010-04-07 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Iago Kiziria GRG 4:1
2010-04-08 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Ramazan Magomedov AZE RSC 2
2010-04-09 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Imre Szello HUN 6:3
2010-04-10 81kg Olexandr Gvozdik UKR Vladimir Cheles MLD 9:1

Ahmet Comert Tournament - Istanbul, Turkey - April 15-19 2009

2009-04-15 81kg Artur Beterbiyev RUS Olexandr Gvozdik UKR AB 2

 

His English is very good, he's ready to be a crossover star.
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Garcia and Rios goofing around with Gvozdyk
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Gvozdyk's unique and impressive training method.
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Col. Bob wants Gvozdyk's Nail or maybe to Nail Gvozdyk or be Nailed by the Gvozdyk.

 

No I did the first one to highlight Gvozdyk but of all of the fighters I've profiled Usyk and Gvozdyk are probably two of my favorites and I think they deserving of extra attention so I did this thread to highlight his many attributes and true level of skill instead of just hyping him, I did the same with Usyk. At least I'm not as repetitive as KovalevtheGOAT.lol: