Ukrainian Gvozdyk Loses to Russian Beterbiev and Loses WBC Belt (VIDEO)

This is the first defeat of the Ukrainian boxer's professional career.

In the night of October 18 to 19, a unification bout took place in Philadelphia, USA, between Ukrainian World Boxing Council world champion in the light heavyweight division Oleksandr Gvozdyk (17-1, 14 KO) and International Boxing Federation title holder Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KO) from Russia.

The fight ended with the Ukrainian's early defeat — a technical knockout and the loss of his championship belt.

In the 10th round, Beterbiev attacked Gvozdyk with a barrage of punches, the Ukrainian went down on one knee three times, and the referee awarded a technical knockout.

This is Oleksandr Gvozdyk's first defeat in professional boxing and the 15th victory for the Russian boxer. The Ukrainian lost the WBC world champion title, which Beterbiev now holds, and failed to win the IBF belt.

At the time the fight was stopped, Gvozdyk was leading on the scorecards of two of the three judges: 87:84, 86:85 and 83:87.

Gvozdyk and Beterbiev first met in the ring back in 2009, in an amateur tournament called "Ahmet Comert Memorial" in Istanbul, Turkey. In the first round, the Russian boxer broke the Ukrainian's nose, and his corner stopped the fight, withdrawing Gvozdyk.

Supporting Gvozdyk at today's fight were newly crowned heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk, as well as WBC, WBA and WBO lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko.