Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs Doudou Ngumbu Preview Mar. 30th
Unbeaten WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk of Ukraine will be defending his crown for the first time this Saturday, March 30th when he takes on Doudou Ngumbu of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The 12-round bout takes place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and can be seen live in the USA on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Fans in Canada can catch it on TSN 2 and those in the UK can see it on BoxNation. Gvozdyk won the title his last time out when he stopped Adonis Stevenson in the 11th round. Ngumbu last fought in May when he beat Yoann Kongolo by a 12-round majority decision to defend his WBC Francophone Light Heavyweight Title.
Gvozdyk vs Ngumbu Betting Odds
Here are the betting odds from online sportsbook BetOnline.ag (full review here).
- Doudou Ngumbu +2931
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk -9091
My Pick
The 31-year-old Gvozdyk enters the ring with a perfect mark of 16-0 along with 13 Kos. He stands 6-feet-2-inches tall and has a reach of 75.5 inches. He’s now fighting out of Oxnard, California and has just 83 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2014. The Ukrainian isn’t really known as a power puncher or one-punch knockout artist, but you’d never know it since his knockout ratio currently stands at a very impressive 81 per cent. His biggest wins have been against Stevenson, Tommy Karpency, Otis Griffin, Yunieski Gonzalez, Nadjib Mohammedi and Isaac Chilemba.
Gvozdyk won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England, is a three-time Ukrainian amateur national champion and also fought in the World and European Championships as well as in the world series of boxing. He has a lot of potential and passed his last test with flying colours when he stepped up in class against Stevenson. Gvozdyk has also captured the NABF, and WBO NABO Light Heavyweight Titles since turning pro. His chin is relatively solid, but Karpency dropped him in the first round in 2016.
As for Ngumbu, he’s in the twilight of his career at the age of 37 and enters the ring with a mark of 38-8 with 14 Kos. He turned pro back in 2007 and has plenty of experience with 322 rounds under his belt. Ngumbu fights out of France and has won the WBC Francophone, WBO Inter-Continental, African Union, WBC International, and WBF Light Heavyweight Titles along the way. He’s 5-feet-11-inches tall with an unlisted reach so gives up three inches in height to Gvozdyk.
Ngumbu has been beaten by Igor Mikhalkin (three times), Umar Salamov, Andrzej Fonfara, Pawel Glazewski and Isaac Chilemba by decisions while he was stopped once by Nadjib Mohammedi in the fifth round back in 2012. He doesn’t have much in the way of power with a current knockout ratio of 30 per cent, but has a pretty solid and durable chin even though he was stopped once. Ngumbu’s biggest wins have been against the likes of Johnny Muller, Vyacheslav Uzelkov, Aleksy Kuziemski and Jose Tavares.
Prediction…
Looking at his record it’s hard to fathom how Ngumbu has earned a shot at a world title. He’s been beaten every time he’s stepped up in class and this looks like a bit of a mismatch…at least on paper. Gvozdyk has plenty of power and usually uses it to wear his opponents down over the course of a fight. It may go the distance since Ngumbu’s pretty durable, but I’m expecting Gvozdyk to retain his title on Saturday without much of a problem.
Gvozdyk’s a class above Ngumbu
Play: Gvozdyk -9091 @ BetOnline.ag
Check out my recent boxing betting picks to see my current form.
Doudou Ngumbu betting • Oleksandr Gvozdyk betting