Russian Boxing Federation: Usyk vs Gassiev, July 21 in Moscow

The General Secretary of Russian Boxing Federation, Umar Kremlev, announced at a press conference that the highly anticipated fight between Russia's Murat Gassiev and Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk will take place on July 21 in Moscow at the Olympic Stadium.

Usyk vs. Gassiev is the final fight of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) cruiserweight tournament - and the WBC, WBA, IBF, WBO world titles will be at stake. The winner will become the first four belt champion in the weight division.

"The Super Series final will take place in Moscow on July 21. This will be the start of the International Boxing Day," said Kremlin [sic].

Originally, the fight between the two world champions was finalized for May 11 in Saudi Arabia - but it was later postponed when the Ukrainian boxer injured his arm during training camp.

It was widely reported that Usyk would not under any circumstances fight Gassiev in Russia. It was even being said that Usyk was considering the scenario of stepping away from the tournament - unless the contest was moved to another location.

However, last week the Olympic gold medal winner set the record straight and made it known that he was willing to fight Gassiev anywhere and he didn't have any intention of walking away from the fight.

Gassiev is the world champion of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Association (WBA) and has an undefeated record of of 26 wins and 19 by knockout.

On the other end, Usyk is the world champion of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and the World Boxing Council (WBC). And he has an undefeated record of 14 wins and 11 by way of knockout.

Gassiev, who is trained by veteran coach Abel Sanchez, would be viewed as the bigger puncher. And Usyk, with a vast amateur background, would be viewed as the more experienced of the two.

 

Yes, it could be tough, although with the WBSS in charge the scoring's been pretty good so far, hope it continues.