Briedis can whack, don't get it twisted. His power at Cruiser is A- if not straight A. The problem is people started hyping it up as some kind of double-threat at both CW and HW, based on having jumped up to knock out Manuel Charr. I don't put as much stock in a victory - no matter the result type - over that fat mediocrity as some. I've always like Briedis (and unlike most of the bandwagon riders, have known about him and been high on him since before he fought Charr) and consider him a top 5 talent at 200lbs, but all this chatter of him taking on the heavyweight champs, or having an edge in power along with agility, speed & chin? Nah, I'm not having it. He's probably faster and more agile than any top heavy, but we have NO idea how well he takes a punch from a serious elite super-heavy (yes I know Charr is technically a title holder now but no, he isn't elite) nor do we know that his fists can make a dent in any of them. People got a little carried away with him by not keeping that kayo of Charr in proportionately due perspective. Gassiev on the other hand is just now starting to get shine after emerging from relative obscurity to seize the brass ring in his last 3 straight - but if you were actually paying attention to both in the last few years it has always been clear that Briedis, as good as he is and for all that he does have certain areas of strength where he eclipses Gassiev (notably defense, fluidity of head combinations, and hand speed) is second fiddle; that Gassiev is the overall greater sum of their respective parts and danger to Usyk claiming the Cruiser throne, and definitely the harder puncher by far compared h2h with Briedis, has been clear since long before the WSBB came along.
When did he say that? GGG and Gassiev have been training partners for years now, they've definitely sparred.
Just the other day in Sochi. He says, at 6:25, “They’ve gotten in the ring, messing around, but never sparred....Flat out sparring, no.” This content is protected
To be honest, I'm torn and not sure, Briedis is a vicious puncher, but like Usyk, who's pop is underrated, he tends to prefer the cautious approach, and doesn't sit down on his shots when in against guys he thinks could hurt him, like Huck, Usyk or Durodola. Whereas Gassiev has a tendency to sit down on everything he throws, and while yeah, he has some damn impressive vicious KO victories, while he did go the distance with Abdoul, no shock there, but the fact that Cora hung in there for 9 rounds bothers me, and quite frankly Dorticos lasting as long as he did, makes me question Gassiev's power a little. Lebedev is tough as old shoe leather, but he's very old shoe leather, he should have been able to stop him, and Diablo being stopped is no shock, Drozd was hurting him when they fought a few years ago, he was ripe for the picking, so I put no stock in that KO win. Call me crazy, I think Briedis may have slightly less or an equal amount of power, but its enhanced by his speed. I... like IB, have known about Briedis long before he fought Charr, and picked him to beat him by KO, so that isn't influencing me in the least.
He does remind me of Canelo a bit in that department, glad you point it out. Although Canelo has cuter upper body movement and better counter punching ability.
Yep, the technique is nice as well a bit like Joe Louis, not much wasted motion. But I think Dorticos got found out a little, lack of lateral movement and variety on his attack, also he stayed to close to Gassiev punching range. I think Gassiev will be troubled by Usyik movement and awkward jab.
This content is protected Gassiev has a lower KO rate, at 70% than Briedis' 75%, over the course of 3 more fights. (meaning by the time Briedis has 27 bouts, if he scores three straight knockouts, his will be just shy of 78% - nearly eight percent gain on Gassiev in the same # of bouts) This content is protected First of all, Gassiev is missing a KO; that "NC" vs. Isiah Thomas is a bunch of nonsense. He should have that 15-0 cherry popped on his record had that been officiated properly. Secondly, we know by now that percentages alone don't paint a complete picture when it comes to comparing power. Let's inspect the seven bouts of Gassiev's that went the distance: Roman Mirzoev (knockdowns: 0) - this was Gassiev's pro debut. Mirzoev has only been stopped twice in his career, incl. by Gassiev himself in a rematch down the road, and Russian powerhouse Apti Davtaev, currently 14-0 (13). Daniil Zakharenko (knockdowns: 0) - Gassiev's 3rd bout. Zakharenko has never been stopped otherwise, but to be fair has never fought professionally outside this one night. Igor Pylypenko (knockdowns: 1) - Gassiev's 4th bout. Pylypenko has been stopped in 17 of his 41 bouts (including by Gassiev himself in a rematch down the road) and prior to having fought Gassiev the first time had seven defeats via stoppage, all by unbeaten Russian or Ukrainian prospects, having faced a rogue's gallery early on incl. the likes of Rakhim Chakhkiev, Grigory Drozd, and Valery Brudov. Ivan Serbin (knockdowns: 0) - Gassiev's 8th bout. Serbin was 2-0 when they fought and has fought just once more since, to a draw, and has never been dropped in his other three bouts. Ivica Bacurin (knockdowns: 3) - Gassiev's 14th bout. The ornery Croatian has fought more than half of his career at heavyweight, and faced a tough schedule comprised largely of European prospects in the last decade, and has only been stopped 5x in 42 bouts. Ismail Abdoul (knockdowns: 0) - Gassiev's 15th bout. "Cool Abdoul" is somebody you don't go into a fight expecting to stop, I don't care who you are. The ultra slick Belgian has been stopped just once in 99 bouts. Denis Lebedev (knockdowns: 1) - Gassiev's 24th bout. Lebedev has long been a universally respected top cruiser and was showing no signs of slowing at 36 having just knocked out Victor Emiliio Ramírez in his previous defense. Lebedev had only twice prior tasted defeat, and the first time is widely considered a robbery (vs. Huck) while the second was correctly overturned into a NC when Guillermo Jones failed a drug test. Famously VERY tough. In summation, just 3 opponents have a) lasted the distance with Gassiev, b) done so without hitting the deck at least once, and c) not been stopped by him in a rematch. Compare with Briedis' opponents to last the distance: Raulis Racilauskas (knockdowns: 1) - Briedis' debut. Never fought before or since. Jeremy Ouanna (knockdowns: 0) - Briedis' 10th pro bout. Ouanna was stopped twice consecutively after he fought Briedis. Ismail Abdoul (knockdowns: 0) - Briedis' 14th bout. see above. No shame not stopping (nor dropping) him. Marco Huck (knockdowns: 0) - Briedis' 22nd bout. Huck was stopped twice before and once since. Ismaikel Pérez (knockdowns: 0) - Briedis' 23rd bout. Pérez had recently suffered a blitzkrieg and been KTFO in 1 at the hands of Alexander Povetkin, and was rumored to have strayed badly in his training habits by this point in his career (and some would argue was ruined mentally after his inadvertent part in the Abdusallamov tragedy). Briedis never looked even close to seriously hurting Pérez despite landing some very flush uppercuts on him in succession for long stretches of the match. Make of all this data what you will. This content is protected Brieidis has fought (and in one instance, stopped) heavyweights, though! This content is protected Yeah, kinda... Charr is someone I truly don't rate or take seriously, WBA trinket in his possession or no. If you do, then we can agree to disagree. That isn't a significant HW scalp. I was already high on Brieidis, so for me it wasn't this wowie-zowie moment where a lot of people had never heard of this random cruiser before he jumped up and kayoed a "name". Valily is a border-jumper or 'tweener'; so is Duradola. These guys are natural cruisers who occasionally cross the line into heavy when they don't feel like committing in camp (and who may continue to do so to pursue bigger paydays, but at the end of the day they're both cruiser bangers with enough punch to carry up if need be) Huck fought just once at heavy - and while, granted, he probably ought to have been crowned world champ in his debut in the division, managing to outfight the well-regarded and unbeaten Povetkin, all of which is very impressive - that was fairly anomalous. Most stylistic match-ups vs. top heavies that you could imagine would not be as favorable as the under-trained, complacent, off-night-having Sasha. Pérez was a small HW and maybe could've been at CW the whole time, plus he was more competitive than anticipated with Briedis and consistently ate his shots like they were nothing. This content is protected Briedis is the sharper puncher, reaching his targets faster, often connecting with greater accuracy square on the button, and with more fast-twitch explosiveness. This content is protected That is all true but Gassiev is naturally heavy-handed enough to compensate for Briedis' traditionally superior punching technique, and can do as much damage with a single partially-blocked hook as Breidis can with a pinpoint combination. Gassiev also has the correct technique for his style, delivering his brutal payload with maximum efficiency by never loading up 100% with any single blow, so he can better conserve energy and impose his gas tank (along with his monstrous physicality) on his opponents, mixing up his distribution to head and body to spread the pain.
I could've sworn Gassiev sparred him at the very least in prep for Canelo, if not several times before that.
Both clearly hit hard, but I think Gassiev hits harder. He's more accurate and more importantly when he lands it's often as a counter. Like that counter left hook that dropped Dorticus, catching an opponent as they are throwing, or out of position or when they are coming onto your shots makes them doubly effective.
Yes, I noticed that too. After four rounds or soit was looking a bit like Canelo-GGG, but then Gassiev took over. Indeed so, although as a cruiser I'm not sure we could expect Gassiev to compete in upper body movement. Gassiev has some advantages too, he clearly has more power even in a p4p sense.
was i the only one who thought Gassiev looked like Canelo before this fight ? hmmm https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...js-pokumeiko-rbr.600886/page-57#post-18988762