Blue-chip light heavyweight prospect Oleksandr Gvozdyk has been added to the HBO PPV card headlined by the junior welterweight world title unification bout between Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol on July 23 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Top Rank announced on Friday.
Gvozdyk (10-0, 10 KOs), a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist from Ukraine and one of the top prospects in boxing, will take on Tommy Karpency in a scheduled 10-round bout.
Gvozdyk, 29, was supposed to box Robert Berridge in an untelevised bout on Top Rank’s card on July 16 in Lancaster, California, but he was moved to the pay-per-view card a week later against Karpency, a better-caliber opponent than Berridge.
The opening on the pay-per-view telecast came about because super middleweight titlist Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez tore the tendon around the knuckle of his middle finger on his right hand during a sparring session on Tuesday, forcing his first defense against Dominik Britsch to be canceled. That fight was supposed to be the co-feature on the July 23 card.
So the vacant featherweight world title bout between Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 KOs) and Matias Adrian Rueda (26-0, 23 KOs) was elevated to the co-feature position, welterweights Jose Benavidez Jr. (24-0, 16 KOs) and Francisco “Chia” Santana (24-4-1, 12 KOs) will meet in a 10-rounder and Gvozdyk-Karpency will open the broadcast.
Karpency, a 30-year-old southpaw from Adah, Pennsylvania, has faced several quality opponents, including in a pair of light heavyweight world title bouts. Two fights ago, last September, Karpency got knocked out in the third round by world champion Adonis Stevenson, and in 2012 he lost a shutout decision to then-titleholder Nathan Cleverly.
In October 2014, Karpency scored the biggest win of his career, a 10-round split decision in a major upset against faded former light heavyweight world champion Chad Dawson.
Top Rank wants to measure Gvozdyk’s performance against how Karpency (26-5-1, 15 KOs) did with other quality opponents while also getting him his first major television exposure.
“My matchmakers say this is a real test for Gvozdyk,” Top Rank promoter Bob Arum told ESPN.com. “Karpency was the best opponent we could get on short notice, but we were told he was training for another fight. So this is a good test for Gvozdyk to prove to us that he is as good as we think he is.”
Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs), meantime, underwent what Top Rank and adviser Sean Gibbons termed “successful” surgery to repair his torn tendon on Friday in Los Angeles. According to surgeon Dr. Steven Shin, Ramirez is expected to be out of action for five months.
More News
Liu Gang, Brico Santig Join Forces
Highland’s Double Impact: August 18 at Lumpinee
Balajadia, Atencio in Action in Thailand