1. Oleksandr Gvozdyk held the WBC and lineal light-heavyweight titles from 2018 to 2019.
42 Facts About Oleksandr Gvozdyk
1. 2.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk has stated he is nicknamed "The Nail" because his surname in Russian translates to 'nail'.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk is considered part of the Ukrainian golden generation of boxing along with other 2012 Olympic medallists Denys Berinchyk, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Taras Shelestyuk, and Oleksandr Usyk.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk was introduced to boxing at the age of 8, when his father, an amateur boxer, gave him a set of boxing gloves.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk received the encouragement of his friends to begin boxing.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk was a three-time national Ukrainian amateur champion, winning the title for the first time in 2009, beating Vyacheslav Shabranskyy in the final.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk won the national title again in 2010, against Ivan Senay, and 2011, against Dmitro Buglakov.
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At the 2009 World Amateur Boxing Championships, Oleksandr Gvozdyk beat two opponents before being edged out by German boxer Rene Krause.
9.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk was eliminated in the preliminary bouts at the 2010 European Amateur Boxing Championships by Ainar Karlson of Estonia.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk won the EUBC Europe Cup in 2011, defeating Karlson by stoppage in the final.
11.
At the 2011 World Amateur Boxing Championships Oleksandr Gvozdyk beat three fighters before falling to the 2009 world champion Egor Mekhontsev of Russia.
12.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk was a bronze medallist at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk participated in the World Series of Boxing between 2011 and 2013, winning 9 bouts and losing none.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk rounded out his amateur career by winning gold at the 2013 Summer Universiade.
15.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk won by walkover in the final as Dmitry Bivol injured his hand in the semi-final and could not compete.
16.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk won his debut, defeating Mike Montoya via first-round KO on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs Timothy Bradley II on 12 April 2014.
17.
In 2016, Oleksandr Gvozdyk challenged for the NABF light-heavyweight title against former world title challenger Nadjib Mohammedi, on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs Timothy Bradley III.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk dropped Mohammedi in the second round with a right hook.
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Oleksandr Gvozdyk made his first title defence against three-time world-title challenger Tommy Karpency on 23 July 2016.
20.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk then faced off against Isaac Chilemba on 19 November 2016, on the undercard of Sergey Kovalev vs Andre Ward.
21.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk started strong after Chilemba suffered an injury to his right hand.
22.
On 8 April 2017, Oleksandr Gvozdyk won a second regional title, claiming the NABO title with a round 3 TKO win over Yunieski Gonzalez.
23.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk won the WBC interim light-heavyweight title by dominating a 12-round bout on 17 March 2018 against former European light-heavyweight champion Mehdi Amar, and put himself in position to challenge Adonis Stevenson for the full WBC title.
24.
On 1 December 2018, Oleksandr Gvozdyk knocked out Adonis Stevenson at 2:49 of the 11th round to win the WBC and lineal championship, ending a reign that began in 2013.
25.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk knocked Stevenson down in the third round, but the referee called it as a slip.
26.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk said he did not want to be "known as a killer" and wished Stevenson a strong recovery.
27.
On 30 March 2019, Oleksandr Gvozdyk faced Doudou Ngumbu in his first defense of his WBC and lineal titles.
28.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk started the bout as the aggressor by peppering Ngumbu with short right and left hands, before landing a punishing overhand right.
29.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk survived the round but was visibly fatigued coming into the 10th.
30.
Beterbiev applied the pressure in the 10th and Oleksandr Gvozdyk took a knee early in the round.
31.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk got up but soon went down again after another flurry from Beterbiev, and the referee warned that another knockdown would mean the end of the fight.
32.
CompuBox showed Beterbiev was busier and sharper, landing 161 of 515 punches thrown and Oleksandr Gvozdyk landed with 118 of 614 thrown.
33.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk stated in 2024 that there was a perception he retired due to the loss to Beterbiev, but stated that his decision to retire was instead due to the COVID-19 pandemic inhibiting his ability to have a training camp.
34.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk stated he had business and investment opportunities in Ukraine, so he did not need to box any longer.
35.
In late 2022 Oleksandr Gvozdyk announced that he would be returning to competition.
36.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk had a measured performance, notching a clear unanimous decision.
37.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk had a listless start to the fight, landing mostly ineffectively in the first 5 rounds of the fight.
38.
Midway through the sixth round, Oleksandr Gvozdyk found a clean left hook that dropped Bolotniks, who returned to his feet but was deemed unfit to continue fighting by the referee.
39.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk challenged David Benavidez for the interim WBC light heavyweight title at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on 15 June 2024.
40.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk was born in Kharkiv, then part of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union, as an only child.
41.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk is married and has three children, two sons and a daughter.
42.
Oleksandr Gvozdyk stated in 2019 that he speaks Ukrainian and Russian fluently, and has proficiency in English.