By Ian S Palmer
All the cruiserweight titles will be on the line this Saturday, July 21st as Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine battles Murat Gassiev of Russia. Both boxers are unbeaten and the fight is also the final of the World Boxing Super Series. The 12-round bout takes place at the Olympic Sports Complex in Moscow and can be seen on Super Channel in Canada and ITV Box Office in the UK. The winner will be the first man ever to hold the WBO, IBF, WBA and WBC Cruiserweight Belts at the same time. Gassiev, the IBF champ, last fought in February when he stopped Yunier Dorticos in the 12th round and won the WBA title. Usyk, the WBO champ, last fought in January when he beat Mairis Briedis by a majority decision and took his WBC belt.
Gassiev won his IBF title in December of 2016 by beating Denis Lebedev via unanimous decision. The 24-year-old has a perfect record of 26-0 along with 19 Kos. He turned pro back in 2011 and has fought 120 rounds since then. He has solid power in his fists as his current knockout ratio stands at 70 per cent. Gassiev stands just over 6-feet-3-inches tall with a 76-inch reach. North American fans may be familiar with Gassiev as he’s fought a few times in the U.S and has faced boxers such as Felix Cora Jr., Rodney Moore, Isiah Thomas, Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and Dorticos.
Usyk is 31 years old and has a perfect record of 14-0 along with 11 Kos. He won the WBO Title by beating Krzysztof Glowacki by unanimous decision in September, 2016 in Poland. He then defended it against Thabiso Mchunu with a ninth-round stoppage three months later and against Michael Hunter in April of last year. He then stopped Marco Huck in 10 rounds before taking the WBC title from Briedis.
Usyk is a 6-foot-3-inch southpaw with a reach of 78 inches which gives him a two-inch reach edge over Gassiev. Usyk turned pro back in 2013 and has boxed 105 rounds since then.
Usyk has good power as his current knockout ratio stands at 79 per cent, but he’s been taken the distance in three of his past five and two of his past three outings. The only men to last the distance with him have been Hunter, Glowacki and Briedis. Usyk also has victories over some relative unknowns over in Europe. He had an excellent amateur career as he competed at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and then won the gold medal in the heavyweight division at the 2012 Games in London. He also won bronze and gold at World Amateur Championship tournaments in 2009 and 2011 respectively.
Prediction…
There’s going to be a lot of power on display in the ring, but there’s a good chance this fight goes the distance as both men have solid chins. Gassiev has been the more impressive of the two throughout the World Boxing Super Series, but that isn’t to say he’s also looked a bit lethargic at times. This is a very close call, but considering Gassiev’s just 24 years old and Usyk hasn’t really lived up to his potential lately I’ll be going with Gassiev.
