On Saturday, March 17, at the "O'Mecca of Boxing," The Theater at Madison Square Garden, there will be a battle for the Interim WBC Light Heavyweight title between unbeaten Ukrainian contender OLEKSANDR ‘The Nail’ GVOZDYK and French top-rated contender MEHDI AMAR.

The Ramirez - Imam world championship event will be televised live and exclusively at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN, and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN App at 5:30 p.m. ET.

Gvozdyk (14-0, 12 KOs), a former Olympic medalist from Kharkiv, Ukraine, enters this fight having won 12 of his last 14 matches by knockout, including all four of his NABF light heavyweight title fights. Gvozdyk is riding an eight-bout knockout-winning streak.

“I can explode with excitement with how happy I am right now. Seeing a bright light at the end of the tunnel, means I'm getting one a step closer to a world title shot, said Gvozdyk.

“Fighting for the Interim title and mandatory spot will put me in position to challenge whoever the champion will be at that time. I would like to thank the WBC for giving me this opportunity, my promoter Top Rank, my manager Egis Klimas, all my team that has worked hard to get me to this position. I want to give special thanks to ESPN who will feature my fight and my performance in front of a massive audience. My dream is slowly coming through; I'm also excited to fight in Madison Square Garden, New York, The Mecca of Boxing. As far as my opponent, I don’t know much about him, but I’m ready to find out on March 17th.”



“I’m very happy for Oleksandr because he is getting this WBC interim world title opportunity,” said Gvozdyk’s manager, Egis Klimas.

“He is a step closer to be the mandatory challenger and to get in position to become a world champion in his next fight after March 17th. He is a hardworking and smart boxer, and he very well deserves to be where he is now.”



Amar (34-5-2, 16 KO’s) from Marseille, France, will make his United States debut when he battles Gvozdyk for the Interim WBC Heavyweight title. His fight against Gvozdyk will be his third outside of his native France.