Ukraine’s WBO Unified Jr. Heavyweight Champion Aleksandr Usyk and Russia’s Murat Gassiev exchanged words of respect at the final pre-fight press conference ahead of Saturday’s Ali Trophy Final at the Olimpiyskiy Sports Complex, Moscow.

“I am looking forward to the final,” said Ukrainian Usyk. “When I was in Sochi and watched the semi-final between Gassiev and Dorticos, I met a lot of people who said they support Murat, but that they respect me.”

“It does not matter which city, which country my opponent is from and I am not worried about fighting in Moscow. For me, it’s normal to fight abroad.”

“This fight has the attention of fans all over the world,” said Gassiev. “We are going to make history and will make a beautiful fight.”

“I don’t think I have an advantage fighting in Russia, because I know Usyk has many fans here too. I respect my opponent, and I don’t pay attention to where he comes from.”

Abel Sanchez, Gassiev’s coach said: “This is a fight between two of the best fighters in the world. We are going to have to raise our level to beat this guy.”

Kalle Sauerland, Comosa’s Chief Boxing Officer, said: “We look forward to an absolutely incredible fight week. World Boxing Super Series represents the champions league of boxing and on Saturday we will crown our first champion.”

“We are looking forward to seeing a fight between two unbelievable gladiators. This is the fight of the year, make no mistake.”

“Thank you very much to everyone involved, but most of all thanks to the fighters who are putting everything on the line on Saturday. It is going to be a sensational fight.”

The Ali Trophy Jr. Heavyweight final is guaranteed to produce fireworks and the winner of Usyk-Gassiev will be the first boxer ever to win the Muhammad Ali Trophy and unify the cruiserweight titles in the four belt era.

The belts on the line will be the WBO, WBC, IBF and WBA Super and RING Magazine’s vacant cruiserweight championship strap.

WBSS Final Usyk vs. Gassiev a Hot Ticket in Moscow

The final bout of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) cruiserweight tournament is a very hot ticket.

The contest takes place on July 21 at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia.

In the final bout, unbeaten world champions Oleksandr Usyk of Ukraine and Murat Gassiev of Russia will collide for the WBA, WBO, IBF, WBC world titles.

Initially, the fight was scheduled to take place on May 11 and was due to happen in Saudi Arabia, but the event was postponed because of an injury to the Ukrainian boxer.

“I was ready to fight with Usyk anywhere in the world,” Gassiev said. “I’m confident that our fight will turn out great. The winner will get everything.”

Usyk is not worried about taking the fight in Gassiev’s backyard. He captured both of his titles, the WBO and WBC, by beating the champions on their home soil.

“Once again I’m going to fight in the territory of my opponent,” Usyk said. “I successfully coped with this in the quarter-finals and in the semifinals. Now I’m going to win in Moscow. ”

In the quarter finals of the Super Series, Usyk defeated traveled over to Germany to stop former world champion Marco Huck by technical knockout in a match was held in Berlin, and in the semi-finals the Ukrainian boxer won a unanimous decision over undefeated Latvian Maris Briedis in a bout that took place before a hot crowd in Riga.

Gassiev is the world champion under the versions of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and the World Boxing Association (WBA). His fearsome record includes 26 wins (19 – by knockout) and no defeats. And as far as Usyk, he’s holding the world titles of the World Boxing Organization (WBO) and the World Boxing Council (WBC) and has clean record of 14 wins (11 – by knockout), no defeats.

Luke Furman covers boxing for bokser.org.

https://www.boxingscene.com/usyk-vs-gassiev-hot-ticket-moscow-7000-sold-first-day–129602

WBO Unified Jr. Heavyweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk, and the WBA and IBF Champion, Russian boxer Murat Gassiev will contest the final of the Super World Series of Boxing.

The fight between Usyk (14-0, 11 КОs) and Gassiev (26-0, 19 КОs) will be held on July 21 in Moscow at the Olympic Stadium Sports Complex, confirmed The President of the Russian Boxing Federation Umar Kremlev.

Previously, the Ukrainian boxer Usyk said he was willing to fight Murat Gassiev anywhere in the world.

Usyk and Gassiev were fighting on May 11, but the fight was postponed due to an injury suffered by the Ukrainian boxer.

Date: Saturday, October 5, 2013

WBO Heavyweight Championship

Location:  Olimpiyskiy, Moscow, Russia

Promoter: K2 Promotions/Hrunov Promotion

Supervisor:   Igor Mazurov

Referee:   Luis Pabon

Judges:  Ted Gimza, Glen Feldman, Philliplpe Vebeke

Results:   Wladimir Klitschko retains the WBO/IBF/WBA Heavyweight Title against Alexander Povetkin by UD; the scores 119-104 on all three cards of Judges.

Undefeated WBO middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog (19-0, 15KOs) of Russia will return to the ring on May 1 in Moscow, according to his promoters. Pirog last fought on September 25 in Krasnodar, when he stopped mandatory challenger Gennady Martirosyan within ten rounds. Pirog’s handlers plan to match him with a highly ranked contender in the WBO’s top ten.

One possible opponent being mentioned by Pirog’s handlers is undefeated contender Max Bursak (24-0, 10KOs).

 

By Alexey Sukachev

http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=50108