By Ryan Burton
World class trainer Abel Sanchez is very high on up and coming cruiserweight Murat Gassiev (22-0). The highly rated Russian went 3-0 with 1 no contest in 2015 and is in the brink of a title shot.
Sanchez feels that the hard hitter is very similar to the star of his The Summit Gym in Big Bear, California - WBA/IBO/IBF middleweight champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin.
"In my opinion he is the next Golovkin out of my gym. I have had him spar with a lot of heavyweights because I can't get cruiserweights to spar with him and he is very dominant against everybody he spars with.
"Of course that is sparring and a fight is different but we hope when he steps up and fights for a world title that he does what I see him do in the gym but I truly believe that he is the next Golovkin," Sanchez told BoxingScene.com.
Gassiev's last bout, on December 18, ended on a sour note. It was an IBF final eliminator which ended in a three round no-contest after opponent Isiah Thomas said a punch that hit him after the bell left him unable to continue. Gassiev felt Thomas as trying to find a reason to get out of the fight when the tide began to change.
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