By Luke Furman
The Russian Boxing Federation has continued their uneasy negotiations with respect to the venue and the location of the final round of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) cruiserweight tournament, which features a showdown between Russia's Murat Gassiev and Ukraine's Oleksandr Usyk for the WBC, WBO, WBA, IBF world titles.
A decision must be made in a week or two, according to the Russian Boxing Federation's General Secretary Umar Kremlev.
The announcement of the final decision to reveal the Gassiev vs. Usyk venue has already been repeatedly postponed.
As previously reported on BoxingScene.com, the Russian Boxing Federation had applied to secure the fight on July 21 in Russia.
However, things took a turn for the worse in the negotiations when Usyk made it very clear that he would definitely not fight Gassiev in Russia.
Originally, the fight between the two world champions was finalized for May 11 in Saudi Arabia - but it was later postponed when the Ukrainian boxer injured his arm during training camp.
Because of Usyk's injury, Gassiev interrupted his training camp in the United States in mid-April and returned to Russia. On May 5, the Russian puncher returned to the United States to resume his training under the leadership of veteran coach Abel Sanchez.
The winner of the fight will establish the first four belt champion in the cruiserweight division.
"The negotiations are not easy. They are taking place directly with the leadership of the WBSS and the founders, and not with the boxers themselves. We hope that within a week or two or more [a deal can be reached]. We must make an announcement, and the boxers are still getting ready regardless of where the fight will be held. We are having some tough negotiations about the venue," said Kremlev to Vasily Konov.
Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.
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