Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs. Artur Beterbiev.

Could go either way, just like Kovalev vs Beterbiev, Gvozdyk vs Kovalev, Beterbiev vs Bivol, Bivol vs Kovalev, Bivol vs Gvozdyk etc could. Beterbiev and Kovalev are 2 of the most destructive punchers in the entire sport, both top 10 P4P punchers, so that alone sets them apart from the vast majority of other fighters. Gvozdyk hits hard too but he doesn't possess that same kind of power as they do. Bivol can punch a bit himself as well but he's the lightest hitter out of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Beterbiev's biggest weakness is he's too easy to hit and obviously all the inactivity and outside the ring problems with his promoters, injuries etc. have taken their toll and really set him back. But he's actually beaten both Kovalev and Gvozdyk in the amateurs, the later of whom had to retire after Beterbiev broke his nose. Granted, that doesn't mean he'd beat either of them now but it's worth bearing in mind. But all of the Four Horsemen have their strengths and weaknesses and are real talents.

Bivol has really fast hands and feet, excellent timing and judgement of distance, underrated power, and is probably the best defensively.

Beterbiev hits ridiculously hard and can generate tremendous force with the shortest of punches, is very physically strong, has underrated boxing ability, and as for the KD he suffered against Johnson, well as @Pistol47 said, Johnson's hooks are really heavy, weighty shots and he caught Artur clean with plenty of big ones both before and after the KD which Artur took well. People are reading too much into a KD he suffered in a shoot out between two legit bangers where bombs aplenty were flying and landing back and forth whilst ignoring the KDs all the other top fighters at the weight or many of their favourites have suffered.

Gvozdyk has great boxing skills, movement, punch arsenal, puts his shots together beautifully, and hits really hard when he sits down on his shots.

Kovalev is no longer the force of nature he once was but he's an excellent boxer, hits crazy hard with both hands (how many current fighters can you think that possess both the elite level boxing skills and power he does?), and contrary to what many will have you believe he's mentally very strong too.

 

I rate all of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse highly and consider them all beasts. That said, I feel Beterbiev is being underrated by many.


Some of his amateur scalps (and remember that he achieved all of this with a very aggressive style that is better suited to the pro ranks than the amateurs)

Oleksandr Usyk - Olympic gold medalist, world amateur gold & bronze medalist, European gold & bronze medalist. Usyk beat Beterbiev in the 2011 world amateur championships and the 2012 by 4 pts on each occasion.

Egor Mekhontsev - 2 x World amateur championships gold medalist, Olympic gold medalist, 2 x European gold medalist

Evgeny Makarenko - 2 x World amateur championships gold medalist, 2 x European gold medalist + 1 x bronze

Abbos Atoev - 2 x World amateur championships gold medalist, Olympic bronze medalist

Vasiliy Levit - 2016 Olympic silver medalist but clearly should've got gold

Yerdos Dzhanabergenov - World amateur championships gold medalist

Oleksandr Gvozdyk - Olympic bronze medalist but should be at least silver as he was robbed in the semi-final

Kenny Egan - Olympic silver medalist, 2 x European bronze medalist

Elshod Rasulov - World amateur championships silver medalist 2 x bronze

Ismail Sillakh - World amateur championships silver medalist, European silver medalist (302-16)

Tervel Pulev - Olympic bronze medalist, 2 x European silver medalist + 1 x bronze

Abdelkader Bouhenia - world amateur championships bronze medalist, European silver medalist

Artak Malumyan - World amateur championships bronze medalist

Nikita Ivanov - European gold medalist

Jose Larduet - World amateur championships bronze medalist

Artur Khachatryan - European bronze medalist

Javid Taghiyev - European bronze medalist

Imre Szello - European bronze medalist

Darren O'Neil - European silver medalist

Sergey Kovalev (very close win on pts)

Yunier Dorticos - WBA CW champion (questionable stoppage though)

Thabiso Mchunu

Beterbiev stopped quite a few of those guys too.

Beterbiev is world amateur championships gold & silver medalist and a 2 x European gold medalist. He was robbed against the home representative in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. His opponent (Zhang) was allowed to get away with a ridiculous amount of holding and spoiling. Zhang subsequently went on to win the gold, and not without a little more good luck coming his way from the judges. Beterbiev had already beaten the guy Zhang fought in the final, Ireland's Kenny Egan who was robbed of the gold against Zhang. Beterbiev stopped Egan in 2 rounds on the OS rule in the European championships in 2006.

Beterbiev had also stopped the guy Zhang fought in the quarter finals (Abdelhafid Benchebla) in the 4th round of the semi-final of the Feliks Stamm Tournament earlier in the same year as those Olympics too and he also beat him again on points the following year as well.

So Beterbiev should really have won gold at Beijing.

Beterbiev was also robbed in the World amateur championships final against Atoev too, IMO.

So Beterbiev lost twice in the Olympics to the eventual gold medalist, and twice in the World amateur championships to the eventual gold medalist. Two of those loses were robberies IMO and the other two against Usyk, one of which some felt he deserved, were close and fiercely contested. Usyk said Beterbiev was probably his toughest opponent he fought in the amateurs.

 

2012 – Chemistry Cup (Halle, GER) 1st place – 91KG Won against Wang Xuanxuan (CHN) AB 3rd round in the final; Won against Julio Castillo (ECU) 14:5 in the semi-final; Won against Elber Passos (BRA) RSC 3rd round in the quarter-final; Won against Johann Witt (GER) 14:9 in the first preliminary round
2012 – International Team Tournament (Almaty, KAZ) 1st place – 91KG Won against Aleksey Sevostyanov (KAZ) AB 2nd round; Won against Suliman Abdourachidov (FRA) WO; Won against Manpreet Singh (IND) RSC 3rd round
2011 – AIBA World Championships (Baku, AZE) 5th place – 91KG Lost to Oleksandr Usyk (UKR) 17:13 in the quarter-final; Won against Djakhon Kurbanov (TJK) AB 2nd round in the second preliminary round; Won against Mario Heredia (MEX) AB 1st round in the first preliminary round
2011 – Umakhanov Memorial Tournament (Makhachkala, RUS) 1st place – 91KG Won against Jose Angel Larduet (CUB) WO in the final; Won against Abdulkadir Abdullayev (AZE) 11:3 in the semi-final; Won against Reza Moradkhani (IRN) RSCI 1st round in the quarter-final
2011 – Russian National Championships 1st place – 91KG Won against Abdulkhamid Nurmagomedov (RUS) 15:4 in the final; Won against Arbi Madayev (RUS) WO in the semi-final; Won against Spartak Bakhtiyarov (RUS) AB 2nd round in the quarter-final
2011 – Great Silk Way Tournament (Baku, AZE) 1st place – 91KG Won against Teymur Mammadov (AZE) WO in the final; Won against Vasiliy Levit (KAZ) 3:0 in the semi-final; Won against Sarkhan Jabbarov (AZE) KO 1st round in the quarter-final
2010 – Russian National Championships 2nd place – 91KG Lost to Pavel Nikitayev (RUS) 12:3 in the final; Won against Abdulkhamid Nurmagomedov (RUS) AB 2nd round in the semifinal; Won against Pavel Shulskiy (RUS) WO in the quarterfinal
2010 – European Championships (Moscow, RUS) 1st place – 81KG Won against Abdelkader Bouhenia (FRA) RSC 1st round in the final; Won against Artur Khachatryan (ARM) RSC 2nd round in the semi-final; Won against Bosko Draskovic (MNE) RSC 2nd round in the quarter-final; Won against Hrvoje Sep (CRO) 15:4 in the first preliminary round
2010 – Umakhanov Memorial Tournament (Makhachkala, RUS) 1st place – 81KG Won against Samir Magomedov (RUS) RSC 1st round in the final; Won against Nikolajs Grisunins (LAT) 9:6 in the semi-final
2010 – Strandja Memorial Tournament (Yambol, BUL) 1st place – 81KG Won against Elshod Rasulov (UZB) 4:0 in the final; Won against Abdelkader Bouhenia (FRA) AB 3rd round in the semi-final; Won against Onder Ozgul (TUR) RSC 3rd round in the quarter-final
2009 – AIBA World Championships (Milan, ITA) 1st place – 81KG Won against Elshod Rasulov (UZB) 13:10 in the final; Won against Jose Angel Larduet (CUB) 10:6 in the semi-final; Won against Dinesh Kumar (IND) RSC 2nd round in the quarter-final; Won against Babacar Kamara (SWE) 11:1 in the second preliminary round; Won against Jamal Ali Layej (IRQ) RSCH 2nd round in the first preliminary round
2009 – Russian Selection Tournament 1st place – 81KG Won against Nikita Ivanov (RUS) 12:7 in the final; Won against Eduard Yakushev (RUS) 12:4 in the semifinal
2009 – Ahmet Cömert Tournament (Istanbul, TUR) 1st place – 81KG Won against Elshod Rasulov (UZB) 4:2 in the final; Won against Abdelhafid Benchebla (ALG) 8:4 in the semifinal; Won against Haydar Ali Guney (TUR) AB 2nd round in the quarterfinal
2009 – Bocskai Memorial Tournament (Debrecen, HUN) 2nd place – 81KG Lost to Imre Szello (HUN) 12+:12 in the final; Won against Ramazan Magomedov (BLR) WO in the semifinal; Won against Jose Angel Larduet (CUB) 15:8 in the quarterfinal; Won against Mitja Disic (SLO) RSC 1st round in the first preliminary round
2008 – AIBA World Cup (Moscow, RUS) 1st place – 81KG Won against Abbos Atoyev (UZB) 17:7 in the final; Won against Dinesh Kumar (IND) AB 2nd round in the semifinal; Won against Vladimir Cheles (MDA) 5:1 in the quarterfinal
2008 – XXIXth Summer Olympic Games (Beijing, CHN) 9th place – Lost to Zhang Xiaoping (CHN) 8:2 in the second round; Won against Kennedy Katende (SWE) 15:3 in the first preliminary round
2008 – Gee Tournament (Helsinki, FIN) 1st place – Won against Imre Szello (HUN) WO in the final; Won against Abbos Atayev (UZB) DQ 4th round in the semi-final
2008 – Feliks Stamm Tournament (Warsaw, POL) 1st place – Won against Marek Springl (CZE) RSC 1st round in the final; Won against Abdelhafid Benchebla (ALG) RSC 4th round in the semifinal; Won against Daugirdas Semiotas (LTU) WO in the quarterfinal
2008 – RUS-USA Dual Match2 – Won against Siju Shabazz (USA) RSC 3rd round
2008 – RUS-USA Dual Match1 – Won against Christopher Downs (USA) 12:9
2007 – AIBA World Championships (Chicago, USA) 2nd place – Lost to Abbos Atoyev (UZB) 20:17 in the final; Won against Daugirdas Semiotas (LTU) WO in the semifinal; Won against Imre Szello (HUN) 25:9 in the quarterfinal; Won against David Tsiklauri (GEO) 23:9 in the second round; Won against Washington Luis Silva (BRA) RSCH 3rd round in the first preliminary round
2007 – Amber Gloves Team Tournament (Kaliningrad, RUS) 1st place – Won against Utkirbek Saipov (UZB) AB 3rd round; Won against Oleksandr Usyk (UKR) 12:10; Won against Javid Taghiyev (AZE) AB 2nd round
2007 – Russia Senior National Champs 1st place – Won against Yevgeniy Makarenko (RUS) 26:15 in the final; Won against Yegor Mekhontsev (RUS) 24:18 in the semifinal
2007 – Strandja Tournament (Plovdiv, BUL) 1st place – Won against Javid Taghiyev (AZE) WO in the final; Won against Daniel Kooij (NED) AB 3rd round in the semifinal; Won against Lei Yuping (CHN) RSCO 2nd round in the quarterfinal
2006 – Team World Cup (Baki, AZE) 2nd place – Won against Yunier Dorticos (CUB) RSCI 1st round; Won against Thabiso Mchunu (RSA) RSCO 3rd round; Won against Ismail Syllakh (UKR) KO 2nd round; Won against Lei Yuping (CHN) 26:13
2006 – European Championships (Plovdiv, BUL) 1st place – Won against Ismail Syllakh (UKR) 34:23 in the final; Won against Kenneth Egan (IRL) RSCO 2nd round in the semifinal; Won against Artak Malumyan (ARM) RSCH 2nd round in the quarterfinal; Won against Tervel Pulev (BUL) 38:22 in the first round
2006 – Grand Prix Usti nad Labem (Usti nad Labem, CZE) 1st place – Won against Yerdos Dzhanabergenov (KAZ) 18:5 in the final; Won against Tomas Kovacs (SVK) AB 2nd round in the semifinal
2006 – Russia Senior National Champs 2nd place – Lost to Yevgeniy Makarenko (RUS) DQ 4th round in the final; Won against Yegor Mekhontsev (RUS) 42:29 in the semifinal
2005 – Multinations Tournament (Ballybunion, IRL) 1st place – Won against Darren O’Neill (IRL) 29:19 in the final
2005 – Russia Senior National Champs 3rd place – Lost to Mihail Gala (RUS) 39:27 in the semifinal
2005 – Copa Independencia (Santo Domingo, DOM) 1st place
2001 – Cadet World Champs (Baki, AZE) 3rd place

 

Gvozdyk in 2015, Gvozdyk in 2016, Gvozdyk in 2017, Gvozdyk in 2018, Gvozdyk in 2019.

 

No problem. Yeah Beterbiev is a legit beast who will sadly probably never fulfil his full potential now do to his inactivity, injuries and disputes with his promoters. Ideally he should've turned pro after the 2008 Olympics and I think he probably would of had he won gold which as I've explained he very likely would of had he not been robbed against Zhang. I know he really wanted to win gold to honour his father's memory and that's the reason why he hung around for the 2016 Olympics. But he still has a few more years left and the division is so stacked he can still achieve a lot if the right fights get made.

 

Hopefully the Curse Of Dwyer will strike again.

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