Murat Gassiev

Gassiev underwent surgery and remained on the sidelines. In March 2019, Gassiev stated he would make a decision on what weight he would compete at. He advised he had already began training and would join Abel Sanchez in the coming weeks. When asked which platform he would fight on, Gassiev only mentioned he would start negotiations with DAZN streaming service. On April 8, it was reported that Gassiev would make his heavyweight debut in June 2019. On April 18, Matchroom Boxing USA announced they had agreed a deal with Ural Boxing Promotion and Warriors Boxing to co-promote Gassiev, which would see him fight on DAZN. On the new deal, Gassiev said, “I am confident that this cooperation will bring great results. I want to make all my fans around the world happy and realize my full potential in the exciting Heavyweight division.” Matchroom Boxing USA's Eddie Hearn also welcomed Gassiev stating there was a lot of options for Gassiev in regards to opponents.

After Gassiev defeated Dorticos, unified WBO and WBC cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (14-0, 11 KOs) entered the ring and congratulated him, setting up the final of the tournament, to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 11 May 2018. A day after Gassiev's win, the Russian Boxing Federation's Secretary General, Umar Kremlev stated that he would push forward in order to outbid Saudi Arabia and have the final of the tournament take place in Russia on the Day of Russian Boxing on 22 July. In a statement, he said, "We will put maximum pressure on the organizers of the WBSS to make the final of the tournament in Russia. We have already started to act and have indicated our intention to break the price being paid for the show by Saudi Arabia." On 5 February, The Ring Magazine announced the winner would receive their vacant cruiserweight title as Usyk and Gassiev are ranked #1 and #2 respectively in their weight. After returning to North Ossetia, where he was met with 3,000 people, Gassiev stated he would be moving up to heavyweight after fighting Usyk. On 16 April, it was reported that Usyk had suffered an elbow injury during training, pushing the final to possibly June or July 2018. With the Russian Boxing Federation still pushing to host the final on 22 July in Moscow, Usyk replied that he would not be fighting Gassiev in Russia. He went on to say the fight could still place in Moscow, but he would not be involved. Kremlev replied that it was not up to himself or Usyk as to where the final would be held. On 18 June, at a press conference, Kremlev announced the final would take place on 21 July at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia. On 29 June, the final was officially confirmed. On the release date, 7,000 tickets were sold. Both boxers came in at 198.45 pounds at the weigh-in.

On 17 August 2018, it was reported that Gassiev would take out to deal with an ongoing shoulder Injury, potentially leading to surgery. His co-promoter, Leon Margules stated, "Gassiev may need surgery, he has a left shoulder injury. We have not talked about his future. As soon as Murat recovers from injuries, we will discuss the situation." At this point, there was no indication on whether Gassiev would remain at cruiserweight or move up to heavyweight.

Immediately after Gassiev's win over Włodarczyk, WBA 'Regular' champion Yuniel Dorticos (22-0, 21 KOs), who defeated Dmitry Kudryashov in September to advance to the semi finals, entered the ring. Gassiev and Dorticos posed in a face off to start the buildup to their fight. Dorticos told Gassiev, "Take a good vacation. I wanna prepare the right dosage for you of ibuprofen and anesthesia for the next fight, so it’s less painful." On 29 October 2017, Gassiev's trainer Abel Sanchez stated the fight could take place on 20 January 2018. The fight was confirmed to take place at the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi, Russia on 3 February 2018. On 1 February 2018, the WBA demoted Lebedev to 'champion in recess' and promoted Dorticos from 'regular' to 'full' champion in order for the fight with Gassiev to be a true unification. The WBA stated the winner of the tournament would be mandated to fight Lebedev.

In June 2013, Gassiev defeated 24 year old Levan Jomardashvili (31-10, 21 KOs) to claim the vacant WBC Youth world cruiserweight title at the Yunost Arena in Chelyabinsk. In round 1, Jomardashvili was dropped twice scoring it a 10-7 round for Gassiev and in round 2, the fight was stopped after Jomardashvili was dropped a further two times. Gassiev defended the title in December against Ivica Bacurin 16-3-1, 7 KOs). The fight went the full 10 rounds as Gassiev won via unanimous decision (98-89, 100-87, 96-91). Bacurin was knocked down once in round 2, in round 8 and in round 10. He also had a point deducted in round 10.

It was announced that Gassiev would get another opportunity in an eliminator against #10 IBF Jordan Shimmell (20-1, 16 KOs), whose only defeat came to Isiah Thomas. The fight took place at the Black Bear Casino in Carlton, Minnesota on 17 May 2016. Gassiev stayed unbeaten in defeating Shimmell in a 1st-round knockout. Gassiev knocked Shimmell down with a left hook to the head. The back of Shimmell's head bounced off the canvas when he was knocked down and was out cold. Shimmell was also knocked under the ropes when he fell. The fight was immediately stopped by referee Mark Nelson with just six seconds of round 1 remaining. With the win, Gassiev was now the IBF mandatory challenger to unified WBA and IBF cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev, who defeated Victor Emilio Ramirez in a unification bout the following week.

It was announced in August 2016, that a fight between Gassiev and unified cruiserweight world champion Denis Lebedev (29-2, 22 KOs) was in the works and a date was set for 3 December 2016 at the Megasport Arena in Moscow. At the official weigh in on 2 December, Lebedev weighed in at 199.7 lbs as Gassiev weighed 198.3 lbs. Lebedev successfully applied for only the IBF title to be at stake as a result, retaining his WBA (Super) title in the process. Lebedev kept the attack up through the 12 rounds as he went on to lose a split decision, losing the IBF title in the process. Two judges scored it 116-112 and 116-111 for Gassiev as the third scored it 114-113 for Lebedev. Lebedev was knocked down in round 5, following a left shot to the body, but managed to beat the count and immediately changed style to avoid further punishment to the body. In the post fight interviews, Lebedev thought he had done enough to win the fight or at least earn a draw and wanted a rematch.

In June 2015, Gassiev knocked out Rodney Moore in 2 rounds and then fought the undefeated Isiah Thomas (15-0, 6 KOs) on 18 December 2015 at the Palms Casino Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada in an IBF eliminator. The fight ended after round 3 in a no contest after Thomas was hit accidentally after the bell and could no longer continue following the ringside doctor's orders. Thomas controlled the majority of the 3 rounds before Gassiev landed the hard shots before the fight was stopped.

On 1 February 2014 Gassiev fought veteran 31 year old Belgium boxer Ismail Abdoul 51-27-2, 19 KOs). This was the first 12-round fight Gassiev was involved in and it went the whole distance. The scorecards were read 120-108, 117-111, 115-113 all in favor of Gassiev. With the win, he also won the vacant IBF East/West Europe cruiserweight title. On 30 August 2014 Gassiev fought on the undercard of WBO cruiserweight title fight Huck-Larghetti at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. He knocked out the undefeated Leon Harth (9-0, 6 KOs). Two months later, Gassiev won the vacant IBF Inter-Continental cruiserweight title after stopping Engin Karakaplan in round 1. It was in this year that Gassiev began training with Abel Sanchez.

Gassiev made his professional boxing debut at the age of 17 on 21 September 2011. He fought at the Manezh in Vladikavkaz, Russia, beating 22-year-old Roman Mirzoev, who only had three professional win-less fights, in a scheduled four-round fight that went the distance, earning a unanimous decision with scores of 40-37, 39-38, and 39-38 in his favour. Gassiev had his second fight in November at the Traktor Sport Palace in Chelyabinsk, Russia, defeating Vladimir Chuklin, knocking him out in round 4. Over the next 18 months, Gassiev remained unbeaten with a record of 11 wins with 7 coming inside the distance at a tender age of 19.

Murat Georgievich Gassiev (moo-RAD GA -see-yev; Russian: Мурат Георгиевич Гассиев ; Ossetian: Гасситы Георгийы фырт Мурат ; born 12 October 1993) is a Russian professional boxer from North Ossetia-Alania. He is a former unified cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2016 to 2018, and the WBA (Unified) title in 2018. As of February 2018, he is ranked as the world's second best active cruiserweight by The Ring magazine, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and ESPN, and third by BoxRec.

At the Draft Gala, which took place on 8 July 2017, although Gassiev was second-seeded, meaning he could pick whom he wanted to fight, his choice was pre-determined to be former IBF and WBC cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Włodarczyk (53-3-1, 37 KOs) by the IBF, in a mandatory fight. It was announced on 8 September by Ringstar Sports that the fight would take place in Newark, New Jersey, at the Prudential Center on 21 October 2017. One of the main factors for the fight taking place in New Jersey was the Polish population in that state. Gassiev delivered a dominant third-round KO, retaining his IBF title and securing his place in the semi finals. Gassiev was in control the opening two rounds working away on Włodarczyk. Midway through round 3, having Włodarczyk against the ropes, Gassiev connected with a left uppercut to the head, which was immediately followed by a left to the body, dropping Włodarczyk on all fours, flat on the canvas. Włodarczyk, clearly in pain, failed to beat the 10 count. The official time of stoppage was 1:57 of the round. Gassiev, who was pleased with his performance, said, "I had a great opponent tonight. I prepared myself for a tough fight, but it is boxing, and anything can happen. We do a lot of work in the gym, and I just listened to my coach round after round, and he told me what I needed to do. That's all I needed." Włodarczyk accepted defeat admitting the better man won.

Gassiev had a busy year in 2015, fighting four times. In January he made his debut in the United States, stopping Terrance Smith in round 4 before fighting his biggest challenge to date, former USBA and NABF cruiserweight champion Felix Cora Jr. (25-6-2, 14 KOs) at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Gassiev successfully defended his IBF Inter-Continental title in round 9 of the scheduled 12 round fight. Gassiev stalked Cora early with an assault to the body. In round 9, Cora would no longer defend himself, which forced referee Johnny Callas to finally stop the fight.