{"id":56769,"date":"2025-04-28T06:39:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T06:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/56769\/"},"modified":"2025-04-28T06:39:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T06:39:07","slug":"canelo-alvarezs-call-began-a-new-chapter-for-oleksandr-gvozdyk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/56769\/","title":{"rendered":"Canelo Alvarez\u2019s call began a new chapter for Oleksandr Gvozdyk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oleksandr Gvozdyk was done with boxing until he received a call to spar Saul \u201cCanelo\u201d Alvarez, and it reeled him back in.
Gvozdyk knocked out Anthony Halloway in the third round on Saturday at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California. The win marks his first since his second round knockout win over Isaac Rodrigues in 2023.
After losing to Artur Beterbiev in 2019, Gvozdyk retired. He had an idea for a gambling business, which he described as an online casino, and even obtained a gambling license in his native Ukraine.
\u201cThe main reason for my retirement was I thought I would start doing business,\u201d the 38-year-old Gvozdyk, 21-2 (17 KOs), told BoxingScene. \u201cThen the war started, and all my plans were ruined, and I just had to do something.\u201d
Amid the war, which began in February 2022, Gvozdyk was watching an unfathomable occurrence. Then, he received a chance phone call.
\u201cOut of nowhere, Elie Seckbach called me and gave the phone to Canelo,\u201d Gvozdyk said. \u201cHe was getting ready to fight Dmitry Bivol. I told him I wasn\u2019t in shape.\u201d
Alvarez convinced Gvozdyk, who trains in Oxnard, California, with the words of not competing, but to learn and train. The following week after the call he was in camp with the former undisputed super middleweight champion Alvarez.\u00a0
\u201cIn the beginning, it was very challenging, but then I started keeping up,\u201d Gvozdyk said. \u201cAt the end of the camp, I started feeling pretty comfortable against him.\u201d
Gvozdyk was in shape and willing to give his professional career a second chance. He would fight three times in 2023 before ultimately getting an interim WBC light heavyweight title shot against Benavidez. Notably, Gvozdyk finished the fight strong, winning the late rounds. \u00a0
\u201cI still felt like I had some gas in the tank,\u201d Gvozdyk said of the Benavidez fight. \u201cI was motivated because I understood this age, I am 37, now 38 and, you have to put everything on the line, otherwise it might be your last chance. I tried, but I didn\u2019t win the fight.\u201d
Gvozdyk is now managed by 3 Point Management, the same management team behind Gilberto \u201cZurdo\u201d Ramirez, who he sparred with ahead of Ramirez\u2019s fight with Chris Billam-Smith in November. Gvozdyk noted that he was grateful to Alvarez and his team for bringing him back to boxing, helping him get to where he is at now.
Gvozdyk is in the sport for one thing: one more chance at glory.
\u201cObviously, for now, Bivol would be the best option, because now he’s undisputed,\u201d Gvozdyk said. \u201cOf course, all people are attracted by belts, and this is like a chance to put your name in history again. So, obviously, Bivol is the best priority. But again, all those big names, even when you fight them, you don’t even have to have a belt on the line, because you are fighting an already legendary fighter, and which will put your name in history. I’m 38 years old, there isn\u2019t time to hand-pick fights. We get an opportunity, we will take it and fight, because it can be the last one.\u201d
When asked if he\u2019d take on a contender like Anthony Yarde, Gvozdyk didn\u2019t hesitate.\u00a0
\u201cIf I’m telling you I’m willing to fight Beterbiev, why wouldn\u2019t I be willing to fight [Anthony] Yarde? Callum Smith, Joshua Buatsi, just tell me which one, I\u2019m ready for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oleksandr Gvozdyk was done with boxing until he received a call to spar Saul \u201cCanelo\u201d Alvarez, and it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":56770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4108],"tags":[29914,1935,4851,16965,29913,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-56769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-anthony-halloway","9":"tag-boxing","10":"tag-canelo-alvarez","11":"tag-oleksandr-gvozdyk","12":"tag-saul-alvarez","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114414220944939847","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}