The World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament comes to its conclusion on Saturday in Moscow. It is ending with a bang too. Oleksandr Usyk and Murat Gassiev will meet with all four belts on the line in one of the better fights that can be made in the sport.
I’m excited for this one. Because the World Boxing Super Series never secured a proper US television deal for their two tournaments, this isn’t getting any play in the United States in terms of excitement though. While that is a very real shame, I’m telling you right now that you should be very excited for this fight too. Oleksandry Usyk (14-0, 11 KOs) in against Murat Gassiev (26-0, 19 KOs) is one of the very best fights that can be made in boxing amongst active fighters, no hyperbole. What fights would I actually rather see? GGG-Canelo II, Joshua-Wilder, Lomachenko-Garcia, and…. I think that is it. This matchup is just that good.
Murat Gassiev found his coming to America break through in 2015. He main evented a Roc Nation Fox Sports 1 card in April of that year, stopping Felix Cora Jr in nine. He stayed on that level for a few more fights, stopping the likes of Isiah Thomas and Jordan Shimmel on American TV. Unfortunately the Thomas shot came a little after the bell and that one became a no contest, but if nothing else was clear in these fights, the fact that the Russian had some real power in his hands was. When he was touching 200 lb men, they were falling over time and time again.
The very end of 2016 brought a huge step up for Gassiev in the form of longtime top cruiserweight and then unified titleholder Denis Lebedev. The all-Russian battle took place back at home and was an entertaining scrap all the way. Ignore the split decision result on that one too; Gassiev clearly won it in my view, putting his opponent down in the fifth along the way. Lebedev fought well, but youth prevailed. Ridiculously the WBA didn’t sanction the fight and Gassiev only walked away with the IBF title, but that would be rectified in time. From there, Gassiev has stayed on the world level in the World Boxing Super Series. He took out faded former longtime Polish titleholder Krzysztof Wlodarczyk merciless in three and then thrilled in controlling and finishing highly regarded Cuban top contender Yunier Dorticos in the twelfth and final round last December. The WBA belt that Murat should have won against Lebedev had found its way to Dorticos, so here he finally claimed it officially too.
Oleksandr Usyk has been known for longer in his career thanks to his amateur stardom. The Ukrainian elite was a two time Olympian, taking gold in the 2012 London games. Accordingly, he turned pro with a great deal of hype, though he did it as quietly as possible with all things considered back home in Ukraine. This type of talent can’t be kept quiet for long, however, and by his tenth pro fight Usyk was competing with the top of the division in recent Marco Huck conqueror Krzysztof Glowacki for a belt. The Ukrainian gold medalist dominated the top of the line foe, bringing home the WBO title with wide scores despite being on the road in Poland.
That was Oleksandr’s first fight outside of Ukraine and he hasn’t been back since. He followed winning his title in Poland by defending it twice stateside, first stopping Thabiso Mchunu in nine and decisioning US Olympian Michael Hunter. Usyk looked human in these fights as both men used tricky styles to minimize contact, but he found them both. Hunter was down and badly hurt in the twelfth despite making the distance. This led Usyk to the World Boxing Super Series where he has twice fought on the road despite being the tournament’s top seed. First he met a faded version of Marco Huck in Germany, dominating and stopping the former top cruiserweight in ten. That was only the appetizer to traveling to Latvia though to take on native son Mairis Briedis in an excellent bit of matchmaking. Though Briedis is a known a bit for holding, he fought his heart out here in what I saw as a toss up fight. After twelve great rounds, Usyk had his hands narrowly raised in victory and the WBC belt added to his collection.
My question on Usyk is whether or not we are rating him properly. This is something I haven’t really seen asked much, but it is worth considering. Everyone, S8C included, has Usyk as their top cruiserweight. Yet, looking at this performance record, there is something left to be desired. Clearly Usyk is not the destroyer we were promised coming out of the amateurs, but is he so clearly the top cruiserweight over Murat Gassiev? He didn’t exactly look spectacular over Mchunu or Hunter. He took a long time to really get to a shot Huck, and then he nearly lost to Briedis. All I am saying is that Oleksandr Usyk has only once given us the clean, start to finish domination we’d expect out of a fighter with his level of respect and prestige in the boxing community. He was great against Glowacki, but he’s only ever been good the rest of the way.
Is good enough against Murat Gassiev? I don’t think so. I think he’ll need to be great and I don’t know if I can see it happening. I am picking Gassiev by upset here, probably by decision. My fear though is that he may not even need to deserve the decision to get it in Moscow. That gives me further confidence in picking him, but not that justice will be served. While many would point out that Dorticos got more than a fair shake in Russia given that he was being more competitively scored by the official judges than by media and fans, that one fight doesn’t wipe away the history of hometown decisions. Furthermore, Usyk being Ukrainian adds all sorts of geopolitical tension to the atmosphere in Moscow. I consider Usyk getting robbed a very real possibility. I don’t think it will happen because I believe in Gassiev to the point that I don’t think he will lose this fight clearly enough for there to be able to be a robbery, but if he does I am worried about it.
What a fight though. I haven’t even directly mentioned two of the best parts in all of this either. First and most importantly, this is an outstanding stylistic matchup. The tense atmosphere might lead to a slow start, but there is no way these two styles mesh into an unpleasant fight. Usyk is an aggressive boxer-puncher who likes to ply his trade while coming forward and Gassiev is a straight power puncher, always looking for the knockout. Second, unification! For the second time in 2018, all four belts in a division will be around the waist of one man provided we don’t get a no contest or draw here. We will have an undisputed cruiserweight champion by Saturday evening.
KlowdTV, an extremely small time OTT streaming service, has picked up the rights to this fight stateside last minute. They are charging $9.99 on their website. That price is well worth it for this fight provided the stream goes well, but note that you are actually signing up for their OTT service which will include the fight. There will be a recurring monthly fee if you do not remember to cancel. The broadcast begins at 3 PM, meaning it must feature the decent undercard. Names like Mairis Briedis, Fedor Chudinov, Denis Shafikov, and more will be featured.
One way or another, do not miss this one. If you do, your boxing fandom card will be promptly revoked with no recourse for appeal.
