One thing you can say about Levan Ghvamichava: “The Wolf” knows how to roll with the punches.
Levan Ghvamichava (right) will be looking to rebound from his second career loss Tuesday night when he battles Breidis Prescott, who will be gunning for his third consecutive victory. (Andy Samuelson/Premier Boxing Champions)
A 30-year-old native of the Eastern European country of Georgia now living in Hayward, California, Ghvamichava was initially set to return to the ring Tuesday against southpaw Felix Diaz. Then Diaz replaced the injured Luis Collazo as the opponent for Sammy Vasquez Jr. in a 147-pound bout scheduled for Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama, leaving Ghvamichava without an opponent.
After Diaz backed out, right-handed 154-pound contender Domonique Dolton (17-0-1, 9 KOs) stepped in. But while training last week, Dolton developed a deep gash on the bridge of his nose that required stitches, forcing him to pull out of the fight.
With Diaz and Dolton both out, the scramble began to find Levan Ghvamichava (16-2-1, 12 KOs) a third opponent, and that ended up being hammer-fisted veteran Breidis Prescott (29-7, 21 KOs). With little time to scout one another, the two will square off in the latest Toe-to-Toe Tuesdays battle, this one from Robinson Rancheria Resort & Casino in Nice, California (Fox Sports 1, 11 p.m. ET/8 p.m. PT).
In addition to having to prep for three different foes, Ghvamichava had to deal with the weight limit fluctuating each time the opponent changed. Now, the scheduled 10-round bout is to be contested at a 148-pound maximum.
Rather than dwell on all the logistical challenges, Ghvamichava is simply trying to focus on what he needs to do to take down the dangerous Prescott.
“There’s not a lot of time to think about it, but I have to go in and do my best,” said Ghvamichava, who tipped the scales Monday at 148 pounds, while Prescott came in at 147. “I was disappointed because I had concentrated on Domonique, so now I have to concentrate on Prescott.
“But I like my style against his. He’s an aggressive hard puncher with a good name, and I like to fight top guys. It’s going to be fun for the people.”
The last time Ghvamichava was in the ring was anything but fun. Facing undefeated 140-pound contender Sergey Lipinets on March 15—also at Robinson Rancheria Resort—Ghvamichava more than held his own through four rounds. But Lipinets landed a brutal shot to the liver that immediately dropped Ghvamichava to his knees in Round 5, and The Wolf failed to beat the referee's count, ending a five-fight winning streak.
Ghvamichava weighed in at 140 pounds against Lipinets, one pound less than the limit, and trainer Virgil Hunter believes the low weight negatively impacted his fighter’s performance. Ghvamichava had weighed between 140½ and 142½ in his previous six bouts before facing Lipinets, but he’s fought above 146 pounds five times, going as high as 156.
“Against Lipinets, Levan looked sharp at first, but he had no [energy] being that low in weight,” Hunter said. “That was the first time Levan had weighed in at as low as 140 in something like two years, and he just can’t do that anymore.
“I’ve seen Levan as he’s gradually dropping weight in training, and he has a lot more energy when he’s at around 147. We truly believe that 147 is the best weight for Levan.”
They’ll find out against Prescott, who is best known for his 54-second knockout of eventual 140-pound champion Amir Khan in September 2008. The 33-year-old Prescott followed that victory with another to improve to 21-0 with 18 knockouts.
However, he subsequently dropped seven of his next 13 contests. The Colombia native who now fights out of Miami has since rebounded with a pair of victories, the most recently being a lopsided unanimous decision over Clausinei Lacerda on November 7 in Miami.
At 5-foot-11, Prescott will enter the ring with two-inch advantages in height and reach over the 5-foot-9 Ghvamichava. But those facts don’t discourage Hunter, who believes The Wolf is ready to go on the attack.
“Levan’s gotta get past Prescott,” Hunter said. “He’s got another level of ferocity that he wasn’t able to show against Lipinets. It’s time for him to step up.”
For full coverage of Prescott vs Ghvamichava, hit up our fight page.
