"We won't hug": famous Ukrainian boxer speaks about fight with Russian

Former world light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (19-1, 15 KOs) has admitted the possibility of a fight with a Russian boxer. The 36-year-old from Kharkiv said that he is waiting for a fight for the title, while in his division all the belts are currently held by representatives of the Russian Federation Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) and Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs).

Gvozdyk said this in an interview with the YouTube channel "Two Sides". The boxer added that Ukrainians are unlikely to be very upset if he manages to defeat one of the Russians. According to Oleksandr, he is determined to regain his world title.

"Many people are now saying that we should not fight with the Russians or play in the same arena with them. This is a difficult question. But we are not going to play chess with them, we are going to fight. If I beat a Russian, I don't think anyone in Ukraine would be very upset. But I don't know how to organise it now. Let's see what happens in the future. Because right now, if I box for the WBA title, it's still Beavis. I hope that this time Canelo will cope with him. But if not, what else can I do? I need to fight for the title. Even if we box with the Russian, we will not hug, but fight," Gvozdyk said.

The Ukrainian suffered his only defeat in the professional ring from Beterbiev, whom he lost to by technical knockout in autumn 2019. After the fight, Gvozdyk announced his retirement, but returned to boxing 3.5 years later. On 6 May, Oleksandr knocked out Latvian Richard Bolotniks.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has declared its non-recognition of the International Boxing Federation (IBA), which is run by Russian Umar Kremlin.

Only verified information is available in our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!