This content is protected 21 mins in. A non American moving up to HW newly signed to matchroom. Gassiev?
He might pick up a paper title or two but unless he becomes a less one dimensional fighter then he's not going to do much else at HW except pick up losses every time he faces a good bigger opponent. That said, if the rumor turns out to be true and he does make the move up to HW then I'll be rooting for him; the man is a certified warrior and is rarely in a boring fight.
He will do pretty well at hw. I mean even charr picked up a title. He's probably not far off povetkins size.
Not sure why Gassiev is in a rush to move up to HW. If Usyk moves on to HW - it could open up that division a lot. Yes, the money is better at HW for elite fighters - but the HW division is growing more crowded than it's been for many years. Gassiev would likely be one of the top 2 or 3 CWs for several years - but he could get lost in the shuffle at HW. If he can grab belts at CW for a few years - he'll get better-money fights when he moves up to HW where his success will be less certain.
This. At 24 years old he should definitely take his time and improve, which he really needs to do anyway, since I see him at the moment struggling to be a top 10 heavyweight.
You're proving my point aren't you? Doesn't the fact that Gassiev would be dangerous to those fighters mean that their handlers will try hard to protect their hypejobs, thus ensuring that fights with Gassiev won't get made? If Gassiev wants big fights at HW - he needs to bring the promise of a big purse. Right now he doesn't. So he can be overlooked. If he raises his market value - he won't. He's 24 years old and his fighting style ages well.
Gassediev is a shithouse I'll take him over many Heavyweights though. I'm glad he's moving up, hopefully he can clean up the division a bit
