Cruiserweight contenders Murat Gassiev and Jordan Shimmell will square off on May 17, a source in Gassiev’s camp advised RingTV over the weekend.

The 12-round bout will take place at Black Bear Casino in Carlton, Minnesota, and will air live on FS1 (formerly FOX Sports 1).

According to the source, Gassiev and Shimmell will be fighting in an IBF elimination bout for a No. 2 ranking.

In his last bout on Dec. 18, Gassiev (22-0, 16 knockouts) fought to a no-contest after the third round against fellow unbeaten Isiah Thomas.

Gassiev’s most notable win as a pro occurred almost a year ago, when he stopped Felix Cora Jr. in the ninth round.

Gassiev, ranked No. 3 by the IBF, is trained by Abel Sanchez in Big Bear Lake, California.

Like Gassiev, Shimmell (20-1, 16 KOs) has faced Thomas but with a different result. On July 25, Thomas outboxed Shimmell over 10 rounds, winning a unanimous decision.

Shimmell rebounded from the loss to Thomas his last bout on Feb. 27, winning by disqualification in the fourth round against veteran Willis Lockett.

Shimmell is ranked No. 13 by the IBF.

Also on the FS1 broadcast, unbeaten heavyweight John Nofire squares off against off against hard-hitting Joey Abell of nearby Coon Rapids.

Javontae Starks battles Yordenis Ugas in an eight-round junior middleweight bout.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV since Oct. of 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper, Boxingscene.com, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing.

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