Former IBF and WBA “Super” cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev (26-1-0) will be moving up to the heavyweight division this summer. The Russian inked a deal with Matchroom Boxing and DAZN.
“Having unified two belts at cruiserweight, I feel Murat is a very exciting addition to the heavyweight division, and what a fantastic time to join it,” Eddie Hearn said. “We have lots of fights ready made for him, and I can’t wait to see him fighting at heavyweight very soon.”
✍️ @murat_gassiev signs co-promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing USA, Ural Boxing Promotion and Warriors Boxing 🇺🇸
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— Matchroom Boxing (@MatchroomBoxing) April 18, 2019
The date and the venue for the 25-year-old’s next fight are yet to be announced as the only sure thing, for now, is he’ll be making his heavyweight debut in June.
“I am very happy to announce the beginning of cooperation between my promoters, URAL and Warriors with Matchroom Boxing USA and DAZN,” said Gassiev, who is trained by Abel Sanchez in Big Bear Lake, California. “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.”
Gassiev gained worldwide popularity after he defeated Denis Lebedev back in 2016 and sat on the IBF World cruiserweight throne. Immediately after that, “Iron” joined the World Boxing Super Series’ first-season cruiserweight tournament. At the semi-final, he knocked out Yunier Dorticos in the 12th round and claimed the WBA “Super” belt. In the final of the tournament though, he faced Oleksandr Usyk in a unification bout, but the Ukrainian outclassed Murat.
