WBC 175lbs champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk marched on this Saturday night in the first defence of his title that he won originally over former title holder Adonis Stevenson in tragic circumstances last year.
Stevenson was stopped in the fight back in December and subsequently had to be rushed to hospital with a brain injury but as of this time, thankfully, is on the mend and on the way to recovery according to latest reports.
As for Gvozdyk, he notched up his first defence in Philadelphia Saturday night with a TKO win over Doudou Ngumbu at the 2300 Arena.
The win improved the 31-year-old Ukrainian’s professional boxing record to 17-0-14KO.
After the fight his coach and the highly respected boxing commentator Teddy Atlas gave Fight Hype his honest assessment:
“He maybe overthought it a little bit instead of letting his hands go.”
When asked how hard it was for him and his fighter on the night knowing the man they won the belt off is still not doing well health-wise fully just yet, Atlas admitted:
“(It is) Hard. Hard. I’m not even trying to make excuses. I would never do that with a great champion like Stevenson still not well yet, I would never use that. Out thoughts are with him everyday. Before we left the hotel (for the arena) we said a private prayer that we would be successful and that Stevenson would continue to get better. He’s not far from our thoughts.”
Teddy Atlas, a class act.
