Arthur Beterbiev won an early victory over Alexander Gvozdik, thereby combining the two light heavyweight titles - according to IBF and WBC. Thus, he took a serious step towards the absolute champion title, which was last obeyed by the legendary Roy Jones in 1999. True, then for this it was necessary to collect three belts, and not four.

For Beterbiev, the duel with Gvozdik turned out to be extremely tense, and the scales could well swing towards his counterpart. The middle of the fight was left to the Ukrainian, who was sharper, more accurate and could well arrange his 15th knockout in his career. So, Alexander several times aimed straight hit the right jaw in Arthur's jaw. But in the end it was the Russian who won, who remained the only world boxing champion with 100% of early victories.

True, Beterbiev himself admitted that he was not completely satisfied with his actions in the battle with Gvozdik. According to him, he had several plans for the fight at once, but at times this did not help him dominate the ring.

“Something did not go, hands did not go. The excitement, of course, was, because this is the second belt. You’re afraid of losing your title and not winning another, ”TASS Beterbieva quotes.

At the same time, he admitted that he was not afraid to interrupt his series of 14 knockouts in a row and was preparing to fight throughout all 12 rounds.

“There was no task to knock out. I try to just box. It seems to me that I looked much paler than my opponent, ”Beterbiev added.

Unlike the athlete himself, his coaching staff was pleased with what he looked like in the battle with Carnation. As one of his mentors, Nuripasha Talibov, stated, Beterbiev in good shape approached the unification battle.

“I think that if the fight lasted all 12 rounds, then he would have kept the pace. The plan was built tactically competently ... Despite a certain ease of victory, I note that Sasha Gvozdik is a good boxer, and his punches are very dangerous. And the battle turned out to be difficult for Arthur, ”RIA Novosti quoted Talibov as saying.

According to him, the Russian "owned the initiative and dictated the terms of the battle."

“Sasha is a very respected boxer, but I still expected a knockout victory. Periodically, when Arthur turns to me for help, I work with him. And I wonder how much he attacks on the right. He has very powerful punches, some heavyweights do not beat like that. And when he began to hit the torso very hard, I realized that Arthur would now break the opponent, ”Talibov concluded.

According to the former world heavyweight champion Grigory Drozd, the power of the Russian was a key aspect in the confrontation.

“Arthur just crushed Alexander. As soon as Beterbiev turned on the speed, Carnation simply died. No wonder everyone is talking about his power. In fact, he quite easily gained a victory in a battle with the world champion. The Ukrainian did not have enough force to strike. The Russian simply did not feel the jabs that hit him, ”explained Drozd.

The President of the World Boxing Council (WBC) Mauricio Suleiman congratulated Beterbiev on the success and welcomed the new champion of the organization.

“It was a great fight between the two champions, the boxers showed a very high level. Beterbiev in this fight was very strong and decisive. Our organization is proud of its new title holder, ”said Suleiman.

Beterbiev’s success attracted the attention of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who commented on his triumph in his Telegram channel.

“Arthur Beterbiev is the WBC and IBF world champion. In Philadelphia, he won a landslide victory by knockout over Ukrainian boxer Alexander Gvozdik ... In the tenth round, the judge stopped the fight after the third knockdown. Arthur has a brilliant result - 15 fights, 15 wins, 15 knockouts, ”Kadyrov wrote.

Admired by the speech of Beterbiev and General Secretary of the Boxing Federation of Russia Umar Kremlin. He congratulated the athlete on winning the WBC title and praised him for his striking fighting style.

“Beterbiev showed how real champions fight. Initially, he said that Carnation would not have a chance. I didn’t doubt Arthur’s victory. At this weight, he can compete with anyone. And now we are waiting for the winner of the house and from the Boxing Federation of Russia we are preparing a prize for him. We will not disclose details yet, ”Kremlev said.

The head of the organization admitted that he would try to organize the next Beterbiev fight in Russia, and also compared the last fight with a possible revenge between Murat Gassiev and Alexander Usik.

“Usik is waiting for the same in revenge with Gassiev - this running around the ring will not work,” added Kremlev.

At the same time, the promoter of the combined light heavyweight champion Bob Arum said that he has other plans for the future of Artar. Contrary to the expectations of the fans, the opponent of Beterbiev will most likely be the non-holder of the WBA title Dmitry Bivol.

“In the next fight, Arthur will defend his IBF title against the first number of the Meng Fanlong rating. It will be in 2020, I think that we will try to organize such a fight in China, ”said the head of the promotion company Top Rank.

Despite the high place in the ranking, Fanlun can hardly be called a serious threat to Beterbiev. During his career, he spent 16 fights in the professional ring, in each of which he won. But separately it is worth paying attention to the level of Chinese rivals. It is enough to note that the last time he fought with a little-known Mexican Hilberto Rubio, whose track record contains nine victories and defeats.

Meanwhile, Dmitry Bivol praised Beterbiev’s actions in the battle with Gvozdik. According to him, Arthur showed that he was able to work "in cold blood."

“Carnation started not bad, there were ideas to neutralize Beterbiev’s right hand. And in the middle it even seemed that he was tired. However, several serious blows to the body damaged Alexander, ”the boxer said.

In addition, he once again confirmed that he was ready to fight with his compatriot.

“Of course, there is a desire to fight. The fact that he now has two belts will bribe me, ”concluded Bivol.