by David P. Greisman

Light heavyweight prospect Oleksandr Gvozdyk could be taking a step up in a couple of months if a fight with 175-pound contender Isaac Chilemba is made.

That bout is in the works, according to Gvozdyk’s manager, Egis Klimas.

The fight would potentially be on the same card as one of Klimas’ other light heavyweights, three-belt titleholder Sergey Kovalev, who will headline on Nov. 19 against former super middleweight champion Andre Ward in Las Vegas.

Kathy Duva of Main Events, which promotes Kovalev and Chilemba, would not confirm any of the undercard fights for Kovalev vs. Ward.

“We’re still putting that together. We hope to have an announcement very soon,” she said. “That [Gvozdyk vs. Chilemba] is something that could happen. I can’t announce it.”

But she did say it is something that her company is working on.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for a young, very talented, very exciting fighter. It’s his chance to step up,” she said. “And Chilemba, I think he earned it with his performance in his last fight.”

Chilemba lost a decision to Sergey Kovalev in July, dropping to 24-4-2 with 10 KOs.

Gvozdyk, who captured bronze at light heavyweight in the 2012 Olympics, is 11-0 with 9 KOs. He is coming off a win over Tommy Karpency on the undercard of Terence Crawford vs. Viktor Postol, a fight in which he had to come off the canvas in the first round before scoring a sixth-round stoppage.

Klimas said he wasn’t bothered by Gvozdyk needing to get up from a knockdown.

“It’s boxing, right?” he said. “Some fighters can stand up. Some fighters cannot stand up.”

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