Benavidez vs Gvozdyk approved for WBC Interim light-heavyweight title
The World Boxing Council has approved the fight between American David Benavidez (28-0, 24KO) and Ukrainian Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1, 16KO) for the WBC Interim light-heavyweight title.
Despite the announcement of this tantalising fight, many boxing fans will feel let down by the sport for once again not providing the supporters with the fight they all really wanted.
Benavidez vs Canelo was at the top of everyone’s wish list, but the Mexican is still without an opponent for his traditional annual fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend of May 4.
27-year-old “Mexican Monster” Benavidez comes into this fight after successfully defending his WBC Interim super-middleweight title by technically knocking out undefeated Demetrius Andrade in a stellar performance last November.
Not only is he a two-time world champion, he also holds the record as the youngest super-middleweight titleholder in history.
Trained by his father, Jose Sr., he first started boxing at the age of three and left the amateurs with a 15-0 record. His older brother, José Benavidez Jr., is also a professional boxer who once held the WBA welterweight title.
Gvozdyk shares a lot of similarities with his forthcoming opponent. He started boxing young, at the age of 10, and is a former world champion. However, he had a very different amateur career, where he accumulated an astonishing 225–30 record, culminating in winning an Olympic bronze medal.
He has one solitary loss in the pros, at the hands of formidable Russian Artur Beterbiev. It was a competitive fight until Gvozdyk began to fade under the constant pressure of AB, who only really took control of the contest in the ninth round and ended matters in the 10th. At that point, two judges had the fight scored 87–83 and 86-85 for Gvozdyk.
Despite the early feelings of disappointment over the failed Canelo matchup, David Benavidez vs Oleksandr Gvozdyk should have all the makings to be a modern classic, with both boxers very closely paired.
More information, such as date and location, will be released in the coming days.