Murat Gassiev: A cruiserweight to watch?

Feb

I have a suggestion for an addition to your watch list.

My choice is suggested by the esteemed Abel Sanchez, trainer to the fighting pride of Kazakh, Gennady Golovkin, so I do think and hope that influences your open-mindedness in considering this prospect on the cusp.

Murat Gassiev, 22 years old, from Russia, now living in California. He’s 22-0 with 16 knockouts.

Tell me more about him, Abel…

“He only had 25 amateur fights and no international experience, only 20 years old when he came to me,” Sanchez said. “But I have put him on an accelerated training schedule because he showed early that character that is part of the foundation for greatness, in my opinion.”

Gotcha.

So when, where and whom does he fight next?

“I hope in April. (IBF cruiserweight titlist) Victor Ramirez was supposed to be our next but (on April 30) he is unifying against (WBA beltholder Denis Lebedev). We fight the winner in the fall,” Sanchez said.

Here is another endorsement. World-class cruiserweight Ola Afolabi proclaimed that Gassiev is a certified assassin. “Probably the hardest puncher I’ve ever been in with,” said Afolabi, a pro since 2002 and a three-time cruiserweight title challenger ranked No. 10 by THE RING.

Sanchez sums up Gassiev for us, succinctly: “He is the one the top three cruisers in the world right now (by the IBF) but he may have the problem “GGG” has: Nobody is lining up to fight him.”

Incidentally no one is lining up to fight Michael Woods either. However, if you are interested in getting your wig split by Woodsy, try taking his coffee and smart phone away while he’s busy tweeting on the train. Nice knowin’ ya.