The former cruiserweight world champion under the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Association (WBA), Murat Gassiev of Russia, can potentially make his heavyweight debut in the fall in Sochi.
The Secretary General of the Russian Boxing Federation, Umar Kremlev, is helping put together the event details.
“Yes, the fight of Murat [Gassiev] is being planned for one of the casinos in Sochi. However, in the summer it will definitely not take place,” Kremlev said to Tass.
Gassiev was supposed to make his heavyweight debut in 2019, but he was prevented by injuries. Later, he could not hold the planned match due to an unsuccessful training camp.
His first fight of 2020 was delayed when the entire sport was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In total, the 26-year-old athlete has 26 wins (19 by KO) and one defeat. And one fight was declared a no-contest.
The hard-puncher, trained by veteran coach Abel Sanchez, has been out of the ring for nearly two years, since July of 2018.
In his last fight, in what was the final bout of the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament, Gassiev suffered his first defeat as a pro when he was outboxed over twelve rounds by Oleksandr Usyk. Their contest had the WBO, WBA, IBF, WBC world titles at stake.
Usyk made his heavyweight debut in October 2019 when he defeated Chazz Witherspoon. He is currently the WBO's mandatory challenger to world champion Anthony Joshua. Gassiev is hoping to eventually get a rematch with Usyk in the heavyweight ranks.
