By Yuri Tarantin, photos by Ruslan Kolesnikov
The final press conference was held for Saturday's huge fight card at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow.
IBF/WBA cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev will be making a mandatory defense against dangerous unbeaten challenger Murat Gassiev.
Gassiev is advised by Al Haymon and fights under the Premier Boxing Champions banner. Lebedev's promoter is the leading man in Russia, Andrey Ryabinsky, of World of Boxing.
Lebedev vs. Gassiev creates a classic duel between trainers. Lebedev is handled by Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach, and Gassiev is trained by Abel Sanchez, who is currently best known as the head coach for middleweight king Gennady Golovkin.
Earlier this year, Lebedev pulled off one of his most impressive victories with a two round destruction of Victor Emilio Ramirez to unify the WBA/IBF world titles before a frenzied crowd in Moscow, Russia.
The victory raised the 36-year-old's record to 29 wins (22 by knockout) and two defeats. Gassiev is one of Russia's most promising up and coming boxers. In his last fight, he had very scary knockout of Jordan Shimmell. The 22-year-old Gassiev, who is promoted by Warriors Boxing in the United States, has a record of 23 wins (17 by KO) and no losses.
"In the upcoming fight in Russia I have mixed feelings," Gassiev said. "That excitement that comes before the most important fight of my career, it's a sense of joy and for giving me the opportunity to box for the title, and this sense of responsibility to my team and my fans. The fact that the fight will take place in Russia makes me happy for several reasons. I think that this fight at home will attract much more attention than in the US or in Europe. And secondly, because a lot more of my friends and fans will get to the fight."
Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru
