By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten light heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk of Ukraine will be taking on two-time former world title challenger Tommy Karpency of America this Saturday, July 23rd. The fight is on the undercard of the Terence Crawford vs Viktor Postol junior welterweight title unification bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The 10-round contest will be shown by HBO pay-per-view in North America while fans in the UK can catch the action live on BoxNation. Gvozdyk won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London England and last fought in April when he stopped former world title challenger Nadjib Mohammedi in the second round. Karpency’s last bout also took place in April and he stopped Paul Gonsalves in the first round.
The 29-year-old Gvozdyk enters the ring with a perfect mark of 10-0 along with 8 Kos while the year-old Karpency of is 26-5-1 and has 15 Kos to his name. Gvozdyk stands 6-feet-2-inches tall and has a reach of 75.5 inches. He’s now fighting out of Oxnard and has just 37 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2014. The Ukrainian isn’t really known as a power puncher, but you’d never know it since his knockout ratio currently stands at an impressive 80 per cent. He’s a good prospect and is arguably stepping up in class slightly against Karpency. Gvozdyk is currently ranked sixth in the light heavyweight division by the WBC, 10th by the IBF and 14th by the WBO.
The 30-year-old Karpency is a southpaw and has won seven of his last 10 outings with three defeats and he’s 4-1 in his past five bouts. His lone loss in that stretch came against WBC Champion Adonis Stevenson as he was stopped in the third round in Toronto last September. He gives up the height advantage to Gvozdyk as he’s just under 6-feet-tall and he also has a reach disadvantage with a wingspan of 73 inches. Karpency also fought for the WBO world title against Wales’ Nathan Cleverly in 2012, but lost a unanimous decision. His other losses came at the hands of Andrzej Fonfara by stoppage in 2012, as well as decisions to Karo Murat in 2010 and Rayco Saunders in 2008.
His draw was an eight-round affair against Demetrius Davis in 2008. Karpency’s biggest win was against former world champion Chad Dawson back in October of 2014 by 10-round split decision. Karpency who resides in Adah, Pennsylvania, has the big edge in experience as he’s fought 153 rounds since turning pro in 2006. He lacks power though as his current knockout ratio is 47 per cent. Karpency’s a competitive fighter, but not quite in the elite category at this stage and may fall just short of it during his career. Meanwhile, Gvozdyk may have a little more upside, but he needs an impressive win on Saturday to prove it.
Prediction……
Karpency is a good test for Gvozdyk as he’s a talented and determined opponent. He’s been stopped twice though when stepping up in class and this means there’s a question mark regarding his chin. Gvozdyk has stopped eight out of 10 opponents so far and seems to be the real deal as far as being a legitimate contender. Look for the Ukrainian to take a decision or late stoppage win.
