Damn man. This guy's truly impressive, always thought he was good and he would win tonight but he showed great dimensions to his game. I'm not exactly sure Usyk can deal with it. Those left hooks could definitely hurt and KO Usyk.
Briedis landed left hook to the body vs Usyk, and that's Gassiev's money punch. Usyk needs to box more from the distance, Gassiev has much more punching power.
Rumour has it that when Usyk fights defensively he's nearly impossible to hit - he'll need to do just that against Gassiev.
Briedis is a really hard arse puncher.He couldn't seem to hurt Usyk. It seems as though he knocked Charr flat out ******ed. So, I don't know. Perhaps it is a 50/50. The Crimean Russian fighter is a smooth operator. It would be a rather sensational battle of Russians to be honest.
Gassiev impressed me more than Usyk. I dont know why i doubt Usyk so much and he just keeps proving me wrong but ill be going with Gassiev TKO
I have to give Usyk the edge to win by UD, he will also have Lomachenko, Sr. training him, but this will be a real war! It's a shame USTV will boycott it!
I pointed Gassiev's low output out last night & Dorticos early success with the jab, but it turned out to be the plan all along - not go crazy vs. KO Doctor, let him comfortably get into a jabbing pattern while completely taking away the follow-up power hand (not a single hard right landed on Gassiev's chin) and gradually increase the hurt. Even in the first 3 rounds, Gassiev landed half of his limited power shots, then upped the output and completely dismantled the brave Dorticos. Showed great right IQ, defense, stamina, power and output til the end of the 12th, so that tells me he could easily do Usyk-like output if less respect is needed of the opponent's power, and did walked right through a tough Wlodarczyk for an easy early win. He's not a slow starter at all. Usyk is more of an accumulation type of puncher anyway, and I think Gassiev is confident enough to take more chances early, plus most of Usyk's oft mentioned output vs. Breidis came off the ineffective jab. Some fighters actually let you hit them with the jab, take Mayweather vs. Zab and Oscar, and when the opponents get into the 1-1, 1-2 pattern (with ineffective power shots), they counter and answer with solid compact power shots. The over-confidence in the jab lead Dorticos into a dead end, he should've thrown a lot of lead rights, shot compact hooks and uppercuts, but Gassiev clearly out-foxed him. Gassiev is a great adaptive-reactive fighter who still progresses fight in, fight out, and will probably welcome Usyk's jab based dance and answer with the more hurtful blows. I know Usyk is very skilled, but I was far more impressed with Gassiev's D in his SF, so while an Usyk UD behind a higher output is possible, actually landing the clean effective, hurting shots behind a tight D should go comfortably to Gassiev, who's ring IQ and efficiency combined with the power, stamina and upside as a 24 yo is a sight to behold. Gassiev by KO.
I hate to use Gassiev to score points, because I love the guy and hope he gets some opportunities, but boy was this thread off!
Way off predictions though understandable. Gassievs win over Doriticos was spectacular, and extremely impressive, while Usyk won a tough UD. It didn't seem as though Usyk would beat Gassiev, much less in such a dominating fashion. I hope to see more of Gassiev sooner than later. His evolution at HW will be interesting.
