Oleksandr Gvozdyk faces Anthony Hollaway on April 19 at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, CA. The pair battle it out on the undercard of Gabriela Fundora vs Marilyn Badillo. The contest is scheduled for 8 rounds at light heavyweight.
Gvozdyk (20-2, 16 KOs) looks to return to winning ways after dropping a unanimous decision to David Benavidez last June, which snapped his three-fight winning streak. The 38-year-old former world champion from Ukraine takes on Hollaway (9-7-3, 7 KOs) of Peoria, IL, who aims for his third straight victory.
Former WBC 175-pound titleholder Gvozdyk lost his belt via 10th-round TKO against Artur Beterbiev in October 2019. Ahead of the event, the former champion broke down the light heavyweight division, also saying he wanted to face former super middleweight champion Callum Smith, who currently holds the interim WBO strap.
“Light heavyweight is one of the most exciting divisions right now in boxing,” Oleksandr Gvozdyk said. “There was a time right after Roy Jones Jr. when there wasn’t a lot of super interest. But then, during my early time, we had Sergey Kovalev, [Adonis] Stevenson, Jean Pascal, and Bernard Hopkins in the light heavyweight division.”
“It was good, but now we have an undisputed world light heavyweight champion [Dmitry Bivol], a former undisputed world champion [Beterbiev], two world interim champions [David Benavidez and Callum Smith], one former world interim champion [Joshua Buatsi], and three Olympians [Beterbiev, Buatsi, Albert Ramirez].”
‘I’m not saying Benavidez can beat Bivol; he could with his power…’
“Bivol is so skilled, with such a high boxing IQ. I was supposed to fight him [in the amateurs] at the 2013 World University Championships, but was injured and couldn’t fight, and I became champion. He is the best light heavyweight in the world. He is complete – speed, footwork, everything. In his first fight against Beterbiev, Bivol showed a little weakness going the distance. To be the best, you have to beat the best, and Bivol did in their second fight.”
Talking about Beterbiev, Gvozdyk said, “First, it’s his power. He is a naturally strong guy who can hurt opponents, especially when he gets them on the ropes. Some of the faster guys can give him some trouble – he is 40 – but he neutralizes what his opponents do well.”
“Benavidez has tremendous hand speed and puts on relentless pressure. I’m not saying he can beat Bivol; he could with his power, but I’d still pick Bivol.”
“I’d really like to fight Smith for his title. He’s good, experienced, and has a good jab. I believe I can beat him to become champion.”
“Anthony Yarde is a good, solid fighter who has experience and a physical game. He’s a competitive fighter and one of those fighters, to be respectful, on my radar. He has a good style.”
“I honestly don’t know very much about Albert Ramirez – not enough to break him down. I need to study him.”
“Buatsi was the (WBO) interim champion until Smith recently beat him in a good fight. He has good hands and was a good amateur, taking gold at the Olympics.”
In his next fight, Oleksandr Gvozdyk goes up against Anthony Hollaway, who is coming off two straight victories. The 31-year-old took a split decision against Granit Stein in late 2024 and stopped Ricky Frausto in the second round last November.
In the main event, Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) of Palm Beach, FL makes the first defense of her undisputed flyweight title against Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) of Mexico. The co-main event pits Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) of Cleveland Heights, Ohio against Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) of Mexico at super welterweight.
Among other bouts featured on the Fundora vs Badillo undercard, Tristan Kalkreuth (14-1, 10 KOs) of Carrollton, TX meets former interim WBA light heavyweight champion Felix Valera (23-7, 20 KOs) of the Dominican Republic. Joel Iriarte (6-0, 6 KOs) of Bakersfield, CA and Puerto Rico’s Marcos Jimenez (25-11, 17 KOs) clash at welterweight. Uzbekistan-born Kazakh Ruslan Abdullaev (1-0, 1 KO) meets Jino Rodrigo (13-4-2, 11 KOs) of the Philippines at super lightweight.