By Ian S Palmer
Original article; https://www.sportsbetlistings.com/boxing/david-benavidez-vs-oleksandr-gvozdyk-betting-odds-and-prediction/23796/
Former WBC Super Middleweight Champion David Benavidez of Phoenix, Arizona moves up in weight this Saturday, June 15th to take on former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk of Ukraine for the vacant Interim WBC Light Heavyweight Title. The 12-rounder from Las Vegas, Nevada can be seen live on Prime Amazon pay-per-view on the undercard of the Gervonta Davis vs Frank Martin tilt. Benavidez last fought in November when he beat former world champion Demetrius Andrade to defend the WBC Interim Super Middleweight Crown by stopping him after six rounds. Gvozdyk last saw action in September when he stopped Isaac Rodrigues in the second round. Gvozdyk won all three of his fights last year (two by KO) as he returned to the ring for the fist time since 2019.
The 27-year-old Benavidez won the vacant WBC Middleweight Belt in September, 2017 with a split decision over Ronald Gavril even though he was dropped in the 12th round. He then beat Gavril by unanimous decision in a rematch five months later. He sat out for a year after testing positive for cocaine and returned in March, 2019 with a second-round stoppage of J’Leon Love. Benavidez then regained the title by stopping Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round in September, 2019.
He lost it again though, this time on the weigh scale in August, 2020 against Roamer Alexis Angulo when he came in 2.8 lbs overweight. However, he still took care of Angulo after 10 rounds. He picked up the Interim Belt in May, 2022 when he halted former world champion David Lemieux in the third round and defended it against Caleb Plant via a 12-round unanimous decision and then stopped Andrade.
Benavidez is a hard-hitter who turned pro in 2013 after a short 15-0 amateur career. He’s boxed 136 rounds since and won the vacant NABF Junior Light Heavyweight Title in April, 2015 with a first-round TKO of Rollin Williams. He enters the match with a perfect record of 28-0 with 24 Ko’s and owns quite a bit of power with a current knockout ratio of 85.7 per cent. Gavril took him the distance in both of their fights but he then won six in a row by stoppage before Plant took him the distance last year.
Benavidez likes to slug it out and that means he’s not really the hardest guy to hit, which makes him a very fan-friendly fighter. He also appears to have a pretty sturdy chin though even though Gavril decked him. Benavidez stands 6-feet-2-inches tall with a reach of 74.5 inches and his biggest wins so far have been over Andrade, Plant, Lemieux, Kyrone Davis, Ronald Ellis, Angulo, Dirrell, Love, Gavril, Rogelio (Porky) Medina, and Denis Douglin.
The 37-year-old Gvozdyk enters the ring with a mark of 20-1 with 16 Ko’s and stands 6-feet-2-inches with a 75.5-inch reach for an inch reach advantage on Benavidez. He fights out of Oxnard, California and has 112 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2014. The Ukrainian isn’t really known as a power puncher or one-punch knockout artist, but you’d never know it since his knockout ratio currently stands at a very impressive 80 per cent. His biggest wins have come against Adonis Stevenson, Tommy Karpency, Otis Griffin, Yunieski Gonzalez, Nadjib Mohammedi and Isaac Chilemba.
Gvozdyk won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, is a three-time Ukrainian amateur national champion and also fought in the World and European Championships as well as in the World Series of Boxing. He’s also captured the NABF, and WBO NABO Light Heavyweight Titles since turning pro. Gvozdyk captured the WBC Light-Heavyweight Title in December, 2018 when he stopped Adonis Stevenson in the 11th round.
He defended it against Doudou Ngumbu four months later when Ngumbu suffered a calf injury in the fifth round and couldn’t continue. Gvozdyk lost the belt and his first pro fight when IBF Champion Artur Beterbiev halted him in the 10th round in October, 2019 while Gvozdyk was ahead on two of the three scorecards. He then walked away from the sport for about three-and-a-half-years and returned to the ring last year when he beat Josue Obando by six-round unanimous decision. His chin is relatively solid, but Karpency dropped him in the first round in 2016 and Beterbiev stopped him decisively.
Prediction…
Benavidez is a powerful slugger with a lot energy and aggression and will need to make sure he utilizes these attributes against Gvozdyk since the Ukrainian definitely has the better boxing skills. However, Demetrius Andrade and Caleb Plant are also better boxers and Benavidez made sure he threw enough leather to beat them. Although he’s 10 years younger, Benavidez won’t outbox Gvozdyk and needs to to stick to what he’s been successful at so far, which is to simply overwhelm his opponents with heavy artillery. He’s going to get tagged as well though so his chin needs to hold out. Nobody has to tell Benavidez to let his hands go as it comes naturally and as long as he keeps it up I’m expecting him to win this belt. He is moving up in weight though and Gvozdyk is highly-skilled with power of his own. However he walked away from the sport to close to four years and is pushing 40 years old. This fight could have been a much different story if Gvozdyk was in his prime, but he isn’t.
