Murat Gassiev to move to heavyweight if he wins WBSS tourney

Boxingnews24.com

By Sean Jones: IBF World cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev (25-0, 18 KOs) could be making a move up to heavyweight if he defeats Yunier Dorticos (22-0, 21 KOs) on February 3, and then beats the winner of the January 27th fight between WBO champion Alexander Usyk and WBC champion Mairis Briedis.

Sanchez wants the 24-year-old Gassiev to go after one of the heavyweight world champions if he wins the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) tournament this year. Gassiev isn’t the favorite to win the tournament, and he might even lose his next fight against unbeaten 31-year-old WBA World cruiserweight champion Dorticos in their fight next month on February 3 in the semifinals of the WBSS at the Bolshoy Ice Dome, in Adler, Russia.

This is going to be a tough fight for Gassiev, as Dorticos is older and he has a lot of amateur experience to go along with his crushing power. Besides the superior experience, Dorticos also has the advantage speed and boxing skills over Gassiev. Usyk might be the only one in the tournament with the skills to neutralize Dorticos’ power and send him down to defeat.

Usyk seems to be the most polished of the cruiserweights in the WBSS. The 30-year-old Usyk (13-0, 11 KOs) has already stated that his goal is to move up to the heavyweight division and go after a world title if/when he wins the WBSS. That’s where the money is for Usyk and Gassiev. If all they can do is get a title shot against Joshua, it will give them a big enough payday to set them up for life.

“Absolutely,” said Sanchez to Yahoo Sports News, when asked if Gassiev is going to move up to the heavyweight division after the World Boxing Super Series tournament ends in 2018.“He’s only 24-years-old. He’s coming back from camp at 225 pounds, so we have to melt him down to 200. He’s right now at 205, 206. I think that’s what the 30-day weigh-in was. So yes, there’s a strong possibility, if everything is successful in this tournament, we’ll look for a heavyweight title just like when Evander Holyfield when he left the cruiserweight division,” said Sanchez.

Gassiev, 6’3 ½”, might have problems with the height and reach of the much bigger heavyweight champions Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua. Those fighters are capable of using their reach to control the action against shorter guys like Gassiev. However, it’s still a good payday for Gassiev if he gets a fight against Joshua. That’s where the big money is. Wilder isn’t a PPV fighter, and Gassiev would wind up with a very small payday compared to what he could get fighting Joshua.

Gassiev is a little taller than the 6’2” former WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin, but he hits harder than him. They both weight around 225 pounds. Povetkin has been one of the best heavyweights in the division for a number of years. He even held the WBA title from 2011 to 2013. Povetkin will be fighting for a world title against WBA champion Anthony Joshua in the near future, possibly in 2019. If If a small fighter like the 6’2” 225-pound Povetkin can achieve a certain degree of success at heavyweight, then Gassiev can do the same thing if he chooses to move up in weight in 2019.

“He’s really pushing himself to be the best in the world,” said Sanchez in talking about Gassiev. “I think this fight is between 2 fighters in the cruiserweight division that are most marketable. These are the type of fights that Americans like to see. The winner of this goes against the winner of [Mairis] Briedis vs. [Aleksandr] Usyk, and that should be a barnburner. I think the 8 cruiserweights that have been put in the tournament are about the best 8 cruiserweights in any division,” said Sanchez.

It’s too bad that the WBSS tournament hasn’t been picked up by any of the cable giants in the U.S, as it would have been nice for the boxing fans in the States to see the tourney. This would have been an excellent opportunity for the likes of Gassiev, Doricos, Briedis and Usyk to increase their brand by being seen by the fans in the States. Dorticos might want to consider moving up to heavyweight in the near future as well.

The 31-year-old Dorticos will need to be moved quickly for him to get a world title shot at heavyweight. He can’t use up 4 or 5 years trying to get acclimatized to the heavyweight division before he fights for a title. Dorticos will need to be moved fast enough for him to still be in his prime when he eventually gets a title shot. Dorticos winning the World Boxing Super Series tournament would definitely help pave his way to a world title shot at heavyweight if he moves up to that weigh class after he finishes competing at cruiserweight.

”Gassiev has a tough fight on his hands on the 3rd,” said Sanchez. ”Dorticos is 21-0 with 20 knockouts, so he’s a big puncher. Hopefully the fight doesn’t end quick so we can see some kind of action. He has very good boxing skills,” said Sanchez about Gassiev. “He’s worked very hard in the gym to improve his boxing skills. We’ve sparring him with every heavyweight you can imagine, and he’s done very well. He does have boxing skills. Unfortunately, when those punchers get knockouts early in their fights, they seem to gravitate to that. But I think with the fact that we’re fighting a guy with the same power if not more power, we’re going to box a little bit more and we’re going to be smart,” said Sanchez.

Gassiev looked very good in beating Krzytstof Wlodarczyk by a 3rd round knockout in his quarterfinals fight in the WBSS on October 21. Gassiev looked a lot better in that fight compared to in his previous one in beating Denis Lebedev by a 12 round split decision in December 2016. Gassiev knocked Lebedev down with a body shot in round 5, but he failed to continue to throw body shots in the remainder of the fight. Sanchez obviously stressed the importance of Gassiev working the body of Wlodarczyk, which is why he was able to knock him out so quickly. Gassiev will need to throw body shots against Dorticos for him to have a chance of beating him.