I honestly think Briedis was something special but its all hypothetical. Both were derailed from injuries, and the heavyweight career Brieidis wanted was derailed in the beginning and the end because they wouldn't fight him.
It was a missed fight that could have happened in a cruiserweight division and would have been interesting. Both were solid and powerful (Gassiev more so, a striker with a single-punch knockout) but I think Briedis was a more complete and intelligent fighter than Gassiev. The Latvian wouldn't have accepted an battle from the inside with a striker like the Russian but would have tried to land the right punches to win the rounds, taking good care of the defensive phase, while Gassiev, powerful but onedimensional with limited footwork , would have searched for the knockout punch, failing to find it. Here I say Briedis clearly on points, but, as I said at the beginning, it would have been an interesting fight that it was a shame not to have seen.
Gassiev was pathetic against Usyk. Briedis went toe to toe with Usyk. Therefore Briedis would outclass Gassiev no matter what weight division they fight at.
Gassiev is tough, especially at cruiser. Briedis got amazing chin also. This would go the distance at cw and heavy and is difficult to predict. Close fight like 7-5 perhaps for Briedis.
Briedis is a much better boxer and very durable, so Gassiev would lose a lopsided decision or get stopped. Briedis also had significantly better accomplishments at cruiserweight and even a better win at HW (prime Charr schooling + one punch vs 44 year old Pulev come from behind + one punch).
Briedis completely schools him, beats him in every department and potentially wins by shutout. He has far more ways of attacking, more angles of attack, more ways of setting things, better at using feints more effectively with the hands and feet to close the distance and set something up and pawing more effectively and using subtle movement, which helped manipulate the opponent’s sense of range so he could pounce. Gassiev is just earmuffs, occasional jab to close the distance, he doesn’t manipulate the opponent’s range with foot feints, he doesn’t measure and paw to set up the opponent etc. These differences would mean Briedis would be able to use these things to measure and read Gassiev more effectively, and make Gassiev struggle to read Briedis. Bredis was a better counterpuncher, better defence too, Gassiev is far more limited in his overall skillset. The only thing he has is height and reach, and maybe one punch power, but his height and reach wouldn’t even be an advantage because he doesn’t use it. Briedis would feint and set up lead left uppercuts, he’d measure Gassiev, make him miss and counter him, he’d outjab him, he’d counter him over the top, and when he does have to go on the inside, he’s quicker and can easily shorten up his punches too, and has a tighter defence, he’d get the better of him on the inside too.
Briedis has a great chin, massive power himself albeit Gassiev's left hook is obviously one of most devastating single shots in the sport, and he has better boxing skills and feet and would win a UD But Gassiev, due to his underwhelming tenure at HW where he has been a shell of his former self, has become underrated by many now but in his prime at CW he was a beast and just looked so much better, busier and more dynamic than he has at HW To this day, in 71 and 30 fights respectively, Wlod and Dorticos have only been stopped once a piece, both times via Gassiev This content is protected
