The boxer’s June 15 bout is far less important than the one happening in his hometown of Kharkiv. But in both a fighting spirit endures.
The former world champion discovered boxing in his hometown of Kharkiv, the closest major Ukrainian city to Russia, the country that invaded in February 2022 and never left. War, the one between them, continues now, still, unabated. More than 27 months into another stretch of death and destruction, the conflict has shifted and transformed but never stopped. Never even slowed.
The light heavyweight tourism official details the geography of Kharkiv: located in northeast Ukraine, roughly 19 miles—or about an hour by car—from the Russian border. He describes its broader cultural significance: as an industrial center, a cultural hub and a bedrock of Ukraine’s higher educational system.
Of all major Ukrainian cities, Kharkiv is historically the most influenced by its northern neighbors, a byproduct of geographical proximity and an endless, bloody struggle, between multiple countries, over, to control it. Ukrainian remains the city’s only “official” language. But Russian remains its most commonly spoken dialect.
Don’t expect a boxer nicknamed The Nail to view this anecdote, his history, through a sentimental lens. That’s not Gvozdyk. He didn’t keep the gloves as a souvenir. He remembers only that they fell apart. He is Ukrainian after all, a born fighter, same as Serhii and his dad, and all the way back through their family’s history. Ukrainians limit sentiment; it’s part of their DNA, part of how they’ve survived.
But while the past 10 years easily form the golden age of Ukrainian boxing, from Gvozdyk to even more accomplished countrymen like Vasiliy Lomachenko and Oleksandr Usyk, Gvozdyk also draws a clear delineation. The right one. Lazy metaphors aside, there is war. And there are sports. The two are not—and will never—be the same thing.
The secondary fight, if entirely separated from the larger, more painful and existential war, would be remarkable on its own. If it could be separated. Gvozdyk understood how he could best help: tap into his largest platform. As Saul “Canelo” Alvarez prepared to move up to light heavy to face Dmitry Bivol, he invited Gvozdyk to embrace a new role—as a sparring partner. Gvozdyk flew to camp and realized his skills had not diminished. He wanted to box again. Hence, 40 months after his lone defeat, his decision to return. He fought three times in 2023, an exercise, against meh-level competition, meant to shake the rust off. He won all three.
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