Former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk has been left between a rock and a hard place afterhis promotional contract with Zuffa Boxing has been terminated.

The Ukrainian dethroned long-reigning light-heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in 2018, scoring an 11th-round stoppage that left his opponent with a brain injury.

Gvozdyk then made a WBC title defence before losing to Artur Beterbievwho extended his ruthless surge with a 10th-round finish in their 2019 encounter.

Since that defeat, ‘The Nail’ suffered a unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez in 2024, before entering a perceived 50/50 contest against Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic in February.

With both making their Zuffa debut, the two veterans delivered a thrilling battle in which Gvozdyk scored two knockdowns and had built a sizable lead.

In round seven, though, the 39-year-old found himself on the canvas and was ultimately stopped on his feet after getting dropped a second time.

Given his overall performance, one would suspect he had done enough to justify another meaningful opportunity, yet Gvozdyk has since told vRINGe that he will no longer be fighting under the Zuffa banner.

“They terminated the contract in February after a loss. That is, every promoter has the option that if a boxer loses, they have the right to terminate the contract. That’s exactly what they did. After the fight, everyone was saying how great it was. That everything was great. I rested. I started preparing as planned – somewhere around May. And then, around April, they told me I’d received an email terminating the contract.”

This is because his contract has been terminated, while Kalajdzic’s next outing with Dana White’s promotional outfit is confirmed for September 26 against Craig Richards.

As for Gvozdyk, it is difficult to predict what will come next but, at the age of 39, one would suspect that he is close to hanging up the gloves.

Still, he could hardly have been happy to part ways with Zuffa, which also terminated its contract with Robert Meriwether following his defeat to Tony Hirsch Jr in April.

Former British champion and Olympic bronze medallist David Price has assessed whether his countryman, Conor Bennpossesses the necessary hand speed to defeat Ryan Garcia.

The two welterweights will square off at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on September 12, with Garcia making a first defence of his WBC world title.

It was arguably a career-best performance that saw him dethrone Mario Barrios in February, scoring a first-round knockdown before winning a wide unanimous decision.

But despite coming off this dominant display, Garcia was far less impressive when he returned from a year-long doping ban and lost on points to Rolando Romero in May 2025.

Still, many would argue that the 28-year-old has shown signs of world-class quality, while Benn remains glaringly unproven at the top level.

The 29-year-old has also not fought at 147lbs since 2022, with his last two outings resulting in unanimous decision victories over faded versions of Chris Eubank Jr and Regis Prograis.

Against Eubank, in particular, Benn’s speed seemed a key factor in their two middleweight encounters last year, despite him suffering a points defeat the first time around.

As he approaches this welterweight contest against Garcia, though, former heavyweight contender Price has told The Smith Brothers that he sees Benn contending with an unfamiliar disadvantage.

“I think I [favour Garcia]. Conor Benn’s got great hand speed, but I think [Garcia’s] hand speed could make the difference in the fight.”

Like Garcia, Benn tested positive for a banned substance – clomifene – and was eventually removed from his cancelled 2022 encounter with Eubank.

David Benavidez has the full support of WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman as he looks to further establish himself in the cruiserweight division.

The 29-year-old made his 200lb debut in May, becoming a three-division world champion by dethroning Gilberto Ramirez with an emphatic sixth-round stoppage.

In doing so, Benavidez claimed the WBO and WBA titles while also retaining his WBC light-heavyweight strap, so as to afford himself the option of moving back down to 175lbs.

Since then, though, it would seem that the American has decided to remain at cruiserweight, having successfully lobbied the WBC to position him as its mandatory challenger.

WBC champion Noel Mikaelian, meanwhile, was already rumoured to be facing Jai Opetaia, who became Zuffa Boxing’s cruiserweight titlist by unanimously outpointing Brandon Glanton earlier this year.

But while their contest has now been announced for September 12featuring on the undercard of Ryan Garcia vs Conor Benn at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, Mikaelian could soon be forced to relinquish his world title.

This is because, according to BoxingSceneSulaiman has threatened to strip the 35-year-old of his belt unless he and promoter Don King agree to a fight with Benavidez.

From an outside perspective, it seems the Benavidez showdown is becoming increasingly unlikely, given that Mikaelian has reportedly signed to face Opetaia, a former IBF champion, and is attempting to distance himself from the notorious King.

Benavidez, however, is set to secure his three-belt unification match regardless, potentially with WBC ‘interim’ champion Michal Cieslak standing in the opposite corner.

The Polish veteran claimed his secondary title against Jean Pascal, who he stopped in four rounds, but has not fought since their cruiserweight contest in June 2025.