How good is Murat Gassiev?

He was / is very talented, but he fell in love with his power way too quickly and never learned any high level boxing technique or even focused on basic skills like properly cutting off the ring, jabbing with the opponent etc. A shame considering how good of a body puncher he was. Add to that the injuries and inactivity and you have a straight forward power puncher whose basic skills actually regressed when competing with heavier guys. Usyk was also a terrible style match up for him and always beats him, which I think affected his confidence a bit.

 

I don't really think it's fair to call Madrimov a cherry pick when he was seen by many reputable sources as being the best fighter in the division when Crawford moved up and was a young, capable world champion with a deep amateur pedigree as part of the Uzbek team and having competed at his fair share of international comps. For clarity, Madrimov has beaten Arlen Lopez, Osleys Iglesias, Eumir Felix Marcial, Gleb Bakshi, Ekow Essuman, and Vikas Krishnan (should have gotten the nod over Troy Isley as well) among a fair few other Olympians and World Amateur medallists in the amateurs. He also beat Kurbanov and Soro in the pros, both of whom were top 10 ranked guys at the weight when he beat them. He even ran Yeleussinov close when still very green. Madrimov has plenty of wins over capable, world level guys, and proved himself by giving Crawford the toughest fight of his career and by giving Vergil plenty of trouble in two extremely close fights which could both be scored for the Uzbek without all that much bending backwards. I don't mind either fight being scored against him, it's not a hill I'm willing to die on, and I'm not trying to glaze Madrimov too much, but both those fights could have gone either way.

Gassiev barely eked past a shop-worn Lebedev, I'd hardly call that fight a destruction. The win over Dorticos was good, I give him credit for that but it was still a fight where he struggled his fair share with the Cuban. I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that he "was on a tremendous run destroying top 10 cruisers". The Włodarczyk win was good even if he was past his best, that was a legit destruction. Gassiev has beaten a grand total of 3 top 10 ranked fighters in his entire career, and one of them was an SD against a 37-year-old. Him and Madrimov's respective bodies of work are eminently comparable, especially since Madrimov has had far less conclusive losses as Gassiev getting shut-out by Usyk and then beaten by Wallin. Madrimov has a better pedigree, has a brighter future, and to me seems the obviously more skilled fighter. I'm not trying to **** on Gassiev, he's a very good fighter and was an extremely formidable cruiser in his hey-day, but he wasn't the monster that some made him out to be when he was on his hot streak.

 

I know that boxrec has its problems, and their cruiserweight rankings are just bizarre, but nothing for nothing...

-Lebedev is their fifth ranked cruiser of all time
-Włodarczyk is their 19th ranked cruiser of all time
- Dorticos is their 24th ranked cruiser of all time

Put al the asterixes in front of it as you like...its was a good run and some of us want more that. That is all.

 

I mean this is the best era of a weight class thats existed like 40 years. No ones really disputing hes one of the best CWs ever. Hes pretty clearly a top 10 CW champ at HW as well. Hes 6-1.

 

Dorrian Grey was disputing that he was one of the best ever. Hence my post.

He's been plagued by injuries, and now has another chance, maybe a final one, to get back into the heavyweight picture. A lot of us are rooting for him.

 

Cherry pick gone wrong for who? Crawford outboxed him and Ortiz who just got a questionable decision over Bohachuk beat him up. Madrimov isn't that good.

 

Kurbanov is not a nobody he's was a top contender with wins over Teixeira and Liam Smith. Charlo is above Gassiev, he's more comparable to Castano

 

Good thing Madrimov delt with Soro and he was a champion, so the point still stands

 

He was beating Soro anyway. Saying Crawford didn't deserve the victory is hilarious stuff when he got the most punches in. Crawford won more rounds, he beat Madrimov, even Madrimov wasn't complaining. Madrimov won a draw at best, but you hate Crawford so it's par for the course. You've always hated him, thats why you wanted Canelo to knock him out, you didn't just favor a Canelo victory, you were rooting for Alverez when you've had a history of disparaging him and rooting against him, it is strange. Crawfords one of the most genuine guys in the sport

 

Crawford claimed Pacquiao was a generational talent and accomplished things no other fighters has, but hinted at his possible PED use because Pacquiao refused drug testing against Mayweather which is why Crawford thinks Pacquiao didn't do it alone. I disagree with him, but the fact is Pacquiao did refuse drug testing. Yeah you're grasping because you hated him way before this anyway

 

A European-level fighter, nothing special, solid power but extremely limited in other aspects...

 

We will see how he does against Pulev. If he does not stop a 40 something Pulev, the only answer would be: Not Good.