By Alan Dawson
LAS VEGAS โ Oleksandr Gvozdyk has a powerful driving force that helps guide him into his light heavyweight battle against David Benavidez on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The pair square off as the chief support to the Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin lightweight main event in what could become an explosive Premier Boxing Champions pay-per-view on Prime Video, and PPV.com.
Benavidez commands his own headlines, because of his links to a Saul โCaneloโ Alvarez showdown at super middleweight, or the winner of Octoberโs duel involving Dmitri Bivol and Artur Beterbiev in Riyadh. However, he acknowledged to Boxing News recently that Gvozdyk is โa really dangerous fighter.โ
And that might be because of the run Ukraine fighters have enjoyed this year, and the camaraderie between its elite stars.
This year alone, Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury, Vasiliy Lomachenko swatted George Kambosos aside, Denys Berinchyk defeated Emmanuel Navarrete, and Serhii Bohachuk beat Brian Mendoza.
Each of those four fighters are ranked No.1, No.2, No.3, and No.4, respectively, in their country, with Gvozdyk No.5, hoping to continue Ukraineโs hot streak.
Speaking exclusively to Boxing News, Gvozdyk said he feels โno pressureโ heading into the Benavidez fight, as he has โnothing but motivationโ from his peers, and his people, who have endured a decade-long war with Russia, which escalated in 2022 when Vladimir Putinโs forces invaded more of the country.
โMe and Usyk both understand itโs very important for Ukraine to cheer up our people,โ Gvozdyk said, adding that Usyk visited him in Los Angeles early June to help inspire him ahead of fight week. โWe want to give them more motivation to fight against Russian aggression โ against invaders.โ
Ukraineโs modern day success is no surprise to Gvozdyk because they โhave a really good school of boxing, with a good set of athletes โ and we just know how to keep it going,โ he told BN.
While confident his fighter will pull off the win, Benavidezโs promoter Sampson Lewkowicz is wary about Gvodzyk because of the schooling heโll have received, as well as how Ukraineโs people rallied to defend against Russiaโs occupation of 20% of the country, per Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a 2022 article from Reuters.
โI believe that besides the talent of the Ukrainians, is the will to serve their country one way or another โ to give an extra motivation for whatโs going on in Ukraine,โ Lewkowicz exclusively told Boxing News.
โI have all the respect for the opponent, for the challenger,โ he told us. โI understand whatโs going on in his country. In a normal situation, Ukraine will be free like it was years ago, and it would be much easier to beat him. But now itโll be harder because he wants to prove Ukrainians fight to the end.
โI worry about it because it comes with extra motivation. However, Benavidez definitely will be tougher and I think he will come with a victory.โ
Commenting on Ukraineโs winning run in boxing, Benavidez said: โGood for them and congratulations to them.
โBut that run is going to come to an end when I get in there with Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Ukraineโs had a good time in boxing this year but this is my time now.โ