By Luke Furman
WBA cruiserweight champion Yunier Dorticos of Cuba is very motivated to achieve a single goal - to score a knockout of IBF world champion Murat Gassiev of Russia.
On Saturday, Dorticos and Gassiev will collide in a semi-final fight in the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) cruiserweight tournament, which is taking place in Sochi.
The 31-year-old Cuban has 22 wins (21 - by knockout) and no defeats.
In the first semi-final bout of the World Boxing Super Series WBSS, held in Riga on January 27, Oleksandr Usyk unified the WBC/WBO world titles with a twelve round majority decision win over Latvian Mairis Briedis.
Dorticos is not worried about Usyk as his final foe in the tournament - and wasn't convinced by his win.
"I think that in the other semi-final, after everything, that Breidis won. That was a gift to Usyk that Mairis gave to him. In the super series, all of the fighters are strong, and I don't really worry about Usyk as a possible opponent in the final fight. Right now I'm worried about the fight on Saturday fight," Dorticos said.
"I would like to invite all of the boxing fans to come on Saturday to watch our fight - because on this night I will demonstrate that I'm a knockout king and that I can do it whenever I want. Of course, as always, I prepared an atomic bomb for Gassiev. And we will see whether of not he will be ready to receive this bomb. And I have the same prescription for him - a good painkiller."
Dorticos' coach, Eric Castanos, expressed confidence in his fighter getting the victory
"There was a lot of speculation, but I want to say that this will be a really great fight, the concentration level is now extremely high. Gassiev has some weaknesses, there are many strengths, but we found the strategy and tactics in the appropriate physical state. Yunier will come out after this fight with his hands up. I expect our victory, because he will be ready for anything and willing to die in the ring," Castanos emphasized.
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org