“I’m very happy,” said a beaming Murat Gassiev, the newly minted WBA regular heavyweight titleholder.
“It’s like a new challenge for me, for my professional career, a new division, a new title, and I work hard for this and I’m very happy.”
In December in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Russia’s Gassiev upended Bulgarian veteran Kubrat Pulev in the sixth round, stepping in behind a short, bone-crunching left hook in one of the year’s underrated finishes.
“I always prepare myself for a hard 12-round fight,” Gassiev told BoxingScene. “But it’s the heavyweight division. Like, one punch can change any plan and everything. But like I said before, Kubrat is a big champion, great champion, and a lot of respect for him. I think when a fighter is more than 100 kilos, he can knock you out from a left hook, right hook, right uppercut – like, any punch can stop fight.”
It was a thunderous shot, but Gassiev was not sure that it had ended the contest as soon as it landed.
“I felt like it’s good punch, perfect punch, but not very hard,” he said. “And I think he [would] stand up, but he can’t and the fight finished. But I don’t feel like the fight is over [when it landed]. I thought he would stand up.”
Gassiev doesn’t have another fight lined up, though his team says it has held talks with several potential opponents.
They will also watch closely as Moses Itauma takes on Jermaine Franklin this weekend and, in April, when Deontay Wilder faces Derek Chisora and Tyson Fury returns against Arslanbek Makhmudov.
“Right now, good fights in heavyweight division, [it’s a] good time,” Gassiev added. “I just started preparing myself, like, three weeks ago, maybe four weeks ago, and I just started training two times a day, and I’m waiting, waiting. I just start training and I waiting for some news.”
Victory over Pulev took Gassiev to 33-2 (26 KOs), with the losses coming to Oleksandr Usyk at cruiserweight and Sweden’s Otto Wallin at heavyweight.
Gassiev has won three times since the loss to Wallin in Turkey. Would he like to fight Usyk again, as the recognized No. 1 at the weight, instead of anybody else?
“Good question,” Gassiev said. “Right now, I’m WBA regular champion, a good position, and I never pick my opponents. My promoter, my manager give me name, I take and I’m ready to fight with anybody, anywhere – in the USA, UK, doesn't matter. I need just fight and opponent, that’s it.”
The man in the No. 1 slot for the WBA at heavyweight is Itauma, the gifted 21-year-old who will face American veteran Franklin on Saturday.
“I don't know a lot about Franklin. I just watched a couple of short videos,” said Gassiev. “But Moses is a young fighter, very talented, strong, fast, and he has good future. But [this is a] good challenge for him right now, [the] fight with Franklin, and we [will] see what happens. It’s a good fight for boxing fans.”
There are plenty who believe it is only a matter of time before Itauma wins world titles.
“Look, [there are] a lot of hungry fighters right now,” said Gassiev. “Young fighters … and I think right now, [it’s the] best time for heavyweight division. A lot of good names, good fights and very good fights for boxing fans right now. Perfect time to give good show for all boxing fans.”
Gassiev is 32 – more than 10 years older than Itauma – so does he consider Itauma the future of the division?
“I can’t see [the] future. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow,” he said. “But right now, he’s good, young, talented, strong, and he has a good team, good promoter, good coach and maybe, yes, he [could be] the future of heavyweight division.”
Gassiev, of course, is not as well-known as the divisional elite and the biggest names, like Usyk, Fury and Anthony Joshua, and he is too modest to say whether he thinks he is as good as them.
“I don’t know, just always when I come to the ring I try to do my best,” he said. “I just come with my boxing skills, my boxing tools, and I try to do my best. That’s it and only God knows.”
With Russia at war with Ukraine, Gassiev’s homeland has faced international sanctions, and he is wary about talking politics.
“It's a very hard, very hard question, not a good situation,” he said when asked how the geopolitical situation was affecting him and other boxers. “But I'm a fighter, I’m not a politician. I’m an athlete, professional athlete. I train hard every day and, for me, I never see and watch some politics. My job only boxing, that's it.
“I think we need to move politics this way [he motioned to push one side], sports this way [and then in the other direction], because we are fighters from 10 years old. I go to boxing gym, training camps, and I don’t go to university, learn some politics. I’m only a fighter, a runner, a football player, basketball players, and we need focus only for our life.”
For Gassiev, boxing is all he knows, and although he didn’t have a long amateur career – just 22 bouts – he is enjoying his work.
“When I turned professional, I don’t have a lot of experience and I feel some nerves,” Gassiev said. “But when I have 10 professional fights, 15 fights, I understand this sport and I very enjoy it. When I’m waiting in the dressing room, start to warm up, wrap my hands, gloves, hitting mitts, and I enjoy this time. I like it. I like this atmosphere, this situation, this time and I very enjoy. I enjoy every moment.”
Tris Dixon covered his first amateur boxing fight in 1996. The former editor of Boxing News, he has written for a number of international publications and newspapers, including GQ and Men’s Health, and is a board member for the Ringside Charitable Trust and the Ring of Brotherhood. He has been a broadcaster for TNT Sports and hosts the popular “Boxing Life Stories” podcast. Dixon is a British Boxing Hall of Famer, an International Boxing Hall of Fame elector, a BWAA award winner, and is the author of five boxing books, including “Damage: The Untold Story of Brain Trauma in Boxing” (shortlisted for the William Hill Sportsbook of the Year), “Warrior: A Champion’s Search for His Identity” (shortlisted for the Sunday Times International Sportsbook of the Year) and “The Road to Nowhere: A Journey Through Boxing’s Wastelands.” You can reach him @trisdixon on X and Instagram.
