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Oleksandr Gvozdyk remained unbeaten tonight, and became the first man to stop Isaac Chilemba before the scheduled distance, winning via TKO when Chilemba and his corner stopped the fight after round eight.
BLH had the fight 79-73 at the time of stoppage, with Gvozdyk (12-0, 10 KO) in control, even if he wasn’t putting in a devastating performance. What he did show was patience and maturity against a crafty fighter, and Chilemba (24-5-2, 10 KO) made him work to get in clean shots, which didn’t come easily.
After the eighth round, trainer Roy Jones Jr asked Chilemba if he wanted to stop the fight, and Chilemba said yes, also saying something else about his arm(s).
Gvozdyk landed 140 of 533 (26%) of his total punches, and 77 of 247 (31%) of his power shots. Chilemba was tracked at 80 of 354 (23%) total punches, and 49 of 126 (39%) of his power shots.