Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs. Isaac Chilemba on Kovalev-Ward undercard

Photo credit: Waldemar Gorlushko

Oct

Unbeaten light heavyweight Oleksandr Gvozdyk overcame a knockdown in his most recent fight to grind out a technical knockout win over Tommy Karpency. He will face a more difficult challenge in his next fight on a high-profile card.

Gvozdyk will face contender Isaac Chilemba on Nov. 19 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, manager Egis Klimas confirmed to RingTV.

The Gvozdyk-Chilemba fight will appear on the televised portion of the HBO Pay-Per-View broadcast (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT) featuring Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward in its main event.

Gvozdyk (11-0, nine knockouts) last fought on July 23 in Las Vegas. Gvozdyk was dropped in the opening round by Karpency before stopping him in the sixth round.

Gvozdyk is trained by Robert Garcia in Oxnard, California.

A bronze medalist at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Gvozdyk is managed by Klimas and promoted by Top Rank Promotions.

A one-time title challenger, Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs) will be a significant step-up in opposition for Gvozdyk. The fighter from Malawi, who resides in Johannesburg, South Africa, has faced a number of world title contenders.

Chilemba lost a unanimous decision to Sergey Kovalev in his last bout on July 11. Prior to that fight, Chilemba lost a close majority decision to unbeaten Eleider Alvarez on Nov. 28.

Another fight announced last week for the undercard was a 10-round junior welterweight bout between two-time lightweight title challenger Darleys Perez (33-2-1, 21 KOs) and unbeaten Maurice Hooker (21-0-2, 16 KOs).

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since October of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, BoxingScene.com and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.

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