How would Gassiev fare at HW?

I will say mate, after shoulder surgery they sometimes aint the same, but if he is 100% healthy then he's a bad man to get in with..He will make mincemeat of fighters Usyk has to outbox

 

Sasha Poohvetkin 2.0

 

Yep, Vitaly lost his power after a shoulder injury. Hopefully Gassiev still has his 1 punch KO power.

 

He did, more of an arm puncher. Still heavy but it was a problem

 

Ironic, given your username.

Anyway, Gassiev's got way more going for him than just power, though it's fair to say that he's modelled his style around it. His defence is very tight, and he patiently uses a fighter's aggression to learn their rhythms and expose their openings, which he does with great effectiveness. He's an expert at exploding out of nowhere and catching fighters unawares with crisp, powerful and accurate single or double shots; he even caught Usyk a few times till Usyk adapted and shut him down. He rarely wastes punches, and sneaks shots in through the guard as well as anyone at the higher weights.

His weaknesses are his sometimes too passive approach to a fight, his tendency to wait for opening rather than making them himself, and his neglect of the jab for long periods of a fight. He's also a little too upright, which works against similarly sized CWs but might be a problem against taller HWs who can keep him at the end of their range.

 

I think it had more to do with Vitalis back problems, he came back a bit stiffer and more of an arm puncher. Or it could be the result of all his injuries combined, shoulder, back and knees.. still ruined a few HWs and made Arreola cry.

 

Dillian whyte had shoulder surgery and came back stronger than ever.

Knockout highlight reel lay in his wake from the same arm.

Lots of cupping marks on his shoulder so he clearly implements a lot of rehab and prehab now.

 

fury has never proven he can beat a top notch guy with power in his prime.

 

so you say. aside from shot chisora, he hasn't done squat. went life and death with shot gatekeeper chisora twice.

 

he would be a good conetender and maybe grab a belt for a short while.