Dressed in midnight black trunks with obsidian gloves and shoes to match, Artur Beterbiev was something out of a slasher film on Top Rank’s Friday night main event in Philadelphia.
The highly-anticipated 50/50 fight between the undefeated Eastern European light heavyweights was as good as advertised. A classic boxing match-up between a highly-skilled boxer (Oleksandr Gvozdyk) and a fierce brawler (Beterbiev). Gvozdyk fought his fight, landing swift-handed combinations but the relentless Russian continued to march forward with an unflinching, stone-faced stare, landing vicious body blows that you could hear through the television.
Gvozdyk was out of gas by the championship rounds, making him easy prey for his heavy-handed opponent. Beterbiev floored Gvozdyk three times in the 10th round before the fight was mercifully stopped.
The 34-year-old becomes the unified WBC & IBF light-heavyweight world champion, advances to 15-0-0 (15 KOs) while maintaining his immaculate knockout ratio. More importantly, he becomes the man to beat at light heavyweight, setting up a potential matchup with the Canelo Alvarez-Sergey Kovalev winner or a showdown with Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez or Dmitry Bivol.
Gvozdyk, who was actually up on two official scorecards before being stopped, drops to 17-1-0. Following the loss, he was hospitalized. Thankfully, Gvozdyk is recovering quickly and will likely be released by the time you’re reading this.
Abdukakhorov lines up for Spence
Rising star Kudratillo “The Punisher” Abdukakhorov (17-0-0) outpointed the rugged veteran Luis Collazo in a technical decision on the Beterbiev-Gvozdyk undercard to maintain his perfect record. The uneven match was prematurely ended minutes before the final bell after a gnarly clash of heads between the two gritty boxers. With this victory, the 26-year-old Uzbekistani moves up as the mandatory challenger for the IBF welterweight belt. The only problem is Errol Spence Jr. currently holds the title and you may have heard about “The Truth’s” car accident and subsequent legal troubles.
As for the 38-year-old Collazo (39-8-0), retirement may have crossed his mind. Reaggrevating a nagging left biceps injury, the former world champion might not be cleared to return until he’s grazing 40.
Fitz and a tantrum
Across the pond, Scott ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald (14-0-0) scored a controversial unanimous decision victory over fellow Englishman Ted Cheeseman (15-2-1) on a Saturday night Matchroom Boxing card in Newcastle. The undefeated 27-year-old is now the British super-welterweight champion.
While Fitzgerald’s victory wasn’t a robbery, the decision was debatable. The 24-year-old Cheeseman was not a happy slice of cheddar, letting his hands fly over Twitter moments after the fight:
We smell rematch.
