The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming...

...for the heavyweight championship of the world. There are a good number of young, talented fighters out there who are either beginning a run at the heavyweight title, or are set to do so soon. Let's discuss...

Murat Gassiev- 32 years old, 33 (26)-2. The guy who had a great run at cruiser against Wlodarczyk, Lebedev and Dorticos is finally on track with his WBA regular heavyweight title win against Kubrat Pulev. Gassiev seems injury free and fought twice last year for the first times since 2018, and all he has to do is sit on the title and wait for Usyk to retire to be elevated to full champion.

Alexai Dronov- 24 years old, 9 (7)-0. Good amateur career in which he won the European and World "Youth" titles...big boy (approximately 6'5") who is trained by Sugar Hill Stewart, fights regularly, has spared with Fury, and picks up extra rounds in TLC PRO.

David Surov- This 21 year old won the IBA Super Heavyweight Men's Championship in December. Highly touted around here for his skills, movement and his dominant performances at such a young age. Was supposed to have turned pro in January, but that seems to have been one of those IBA fights that don't count. (Subsequently recognized on Boxrec)

Muslin Gadhzimagomedov- 29 years old, 6 (3)-0, won a bridgerweight title as a pro, and went back to the amateurs to win a third IBA heavyweight title. Also an Olympic silver medalist. May or may not compete as a heavy, and if he does, might struggle with power issues, but his movement, educated combos and high-octane style would make him a threat if he did.

Sergey Manzuev- 22 years old, now 3 (3)-0 as a pro with two knockouts, seemed to have a respectable amateur career in which he fought Surov a number of times. Highly regarded in Moscow.

Kontantine Zemlyakov- Also 2 (2)-0. Though he has not fought a lot of big names as an amateur, seems to have had a respectable number of amateur fights, and is a bit eye-catching in that he is 6'11" and only 20 years old.

Vartan Arutyunan- 11 (7)-0, your new WBA interim bridgerweight champion, but has fought heavy in the past. Probably too small at 6'1" to be one of the A-listers, but is worth mentioning for his accomplishment today.

Artem Suslenkov 13 (8)-0. 30 year old does not seem to be special in the same vein as a few of the others on this list, has average power and is one of the smaller fellers at 6'1, but he has caught some eyes due to his IBA semi-pro win over Mike Hunter.

Alexander Dorfeev- worth mentioning as he is 28 years old, 6'5", and seems to have had a fairly long amateur career, but also unheralded, fights infrequently, and only has 3 KOs in his 8 victories (no defeats).

Svetoslav Teterin- 28 years old, another good amateur reportedly turning pro, and does have one split decision win over Surov. Successfully made his debut in march.

Oleg Zangiev- 7 (7)- 0 and only 21 years old. No listed amateur career on boxrec, but a poster who is familiar says he is an amateur standout, runner up in the Russian Youth National Championships in 2021, and maybe second best after Surov.

There are some other retread names out there: Arslanbek Makhmudov, Arlsan Yallyev, Mourad Aliev, etc. But it is the large number of quality young guys that makes it interesting. We had the era of Ukranian dominance with Usyk and Klitskchos...are we going to see an era of Russian dominance?

 

And is now WBA regular champ. You should probably get over that.

 

If Usyk retires, Gassiev is WBA champ.

What is more, outside of Itauma, who will probably choose a different route, the next guy in the WBA line-up is Lenier Pero, who Gassiev could easily beat. Others in the top ten include Nelson Hysa, Arslanbek Makhmudov, Danier Pero, Martin Bakole, Filip Hrgovic, Gurgen Hovhanisian...none of whom seem out of reach to me...Pulev and Kem Lingquist, whom Murat has already beaten.

Gassiev has not only a plausible path to being champion, but to having a title reign.

 

Dronov? A Sugar Hill fighter?