Ali Izmailov vs Oleksandr Gvozdyk Would Be a Win-Win
Top light heavyweight contender Ali Izmailov (12-0, 8KO) should look to fight one-time WBC champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (20-1, 16KO) following an impressive stoppage over Britton Norwood (13-5-1, 10KO) in the fourth round.
On February 20, Izmailov put on a much-needed impressive performance, after narrowly getting past Charles Foster in his previous outing. He went into attack mode against Norwood with a focused body attack. After scoring knockdowns from punishing body shots in rounds two and four, he finally ended the fight with a barrage of shots that forced his opponent’s corner to stop the fight.
Ranked #6 WBO and #8 IBF, the Russian remains an unknown to the boxing community. Furthermore, his opportunity to compete for a title won’t come anytime soon as both champion are looking to fight for undisputed.
A VIABLE SHOWDOWN WITH HIGH STAKES
If Izmailov wants to get some buzz around his name and move even closer to a title shot, a fight with The Nail would do the trick. This fight has a great rivalry backstory with the recent Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Gvozdyk would be viewed as a hero to his fellow countrymen by taking on the hard-hitting, undefeated contender. In addition, his comeback from retirement in 2023 has gone unnoticed by the boxing public. The Ukrainian is sitting comfortable in the rankings at #2 WBC, #3 WBO, #5 IBF, and #6 WBA. However, his name never comes up when talks of contending for the title arise.
In this author’s opinion, it’s a fight that would serve both fighters very well, with the winner possibly being next in line to challenge the undisputed champion.
