Russian Murat Gassiev made his debut in the heavyweight division in the fall of 2020 and during this period he had four fights in which early victories were achieved. However, neither the frequency of performances nor the level of opposition suited the former WBA and IBF champion’s team.
Meanwhile, the little-known Nuri Seferi (first round), Michael Wallisch (fourth round), Carlous Welch (first round) and Michael Balogun (second round) were defeated. But now Gassiev received the first serious opponent of his career in the royal division. Gassiev (30-1, KO 23) will defend the WBA intercontinental belt against Swede Otto Wallin (25-1, KO 14) on September 30 in Belek, Turkey.
Wallin, 32, suffered his only defeat in September 2019 against current WBC champion, Briton Tyson Fury, in a competitive fight. After this fight, the Swede won five consecutive victories. Gassiev is currently ranked 11th in the IBF and WBA heavyweight rankings. Wallin is ranked in the top 15 by the WBC (#11), WBO (#9) and IBF (#10). In the rankings of the authoritative portal BoxRec, Gassiev ranks 15th among all heavyweights, and Wallin is 30th.
“” spoke with Gassiev’s coach Vitaly Slanov not only about the preparation of the Russian boxer. From this interview you can learn:
“IN CASE OF VICTORY, GASSIEV COULD FIGHT FOR THE MANDATORY CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE”
“Otto Wallin is a pretty decent opponent,” Vitaly Slanov began on . — We watched his performance. Naturally, we watched his fight with Tyson Fury. He’s a worthy opponent, but we don’t even have a united mood.
— You and I communicated several times before Gassiev’s past fights, and you honestly admitted that you would like a different level of opposition. Can we say that Murat now has a better opponent?
– Of course, it’s better opposition. Otto Wallin is Murat’s most serious rival after the end of the Super Series (since summer 2018). We are already studying the pros and cons, but Murat should surprise him, not the other way around. But we won’t talk about our preparations and secrets for now. We work hard, we have a good camp. So everything should go well in combat.
— I will continue to develop my previous question. Did you like the evolution of Gassiev’s career?
“It didn’t depend on Murat.” The one they supported was the one they boxed with. It is now said that if Murat wins, he will fight for the mandatory challenger. But that’s more a matter for the promoters. Our task is to achieve a positive result on September 30 in a fight with a dangerous, strong-willed and resilient opponent, so we should not look behind Wallin’s back.
“FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG TIME, WE HAVE SERIOUS SPARRING PARTNERS”
— How do you now assess the form of the Russian boxer?
“There are just under three weeks until the fight, and everything is going according to plan. We have good training with quality sparring partners, which was sorely lacking before. We have two American boxers in our camp, a South African boxer, a Belarusian and a Croatian. I repeat, for the first time in a long time, we have serious sparring partners; Previously, we suffered from a lack of necessary sparring partners.
— You came to Turkey well before the fight.
— It is difficult for Murat to prepare in Ossetia – there are a lot of distractions. He is very popular there. And now we have ideal conditions on the base in Türkiye. There is absolutely everything you need to work. We are very happy. Nobody and nothing distracts. A serious fight awaits us, so we came to Turkey in advance to prepare. I admit that we have never stopped this far in advance.
— You talked about Gassiev’s popularity. But it seems like he’s deliberately avoiding her and staying away from her.
— The fact is that this attention is very distracting. For example, after exercise we go to have breakfast and every minute someone comes and asks to take a photo. I’m in no way saying it’s bad – Murat benefits from such attention. It’s just that at the final stage of preparation it really gets in the way.
— Gassiev rarely appears in the media space.
– Yes, he doesn’t like it very much, but he still understands the importance of it. So I agree that adjustments probably need to be made in this regard. You need to keep up with the times and trends.
— Who else, besides Otto Wallin, was considered Gassiev’s opponent?
– Naturally, this is a question that concerns the promoters more – they were negotiating. At different times, names like Daniel Dubois and Efe Ajagba appeared. Moreover, Murat wanted to fight with Ajagba, but the Nigerian had just fought with Jean Kosobutsky at the end of August (Ajagba’s victory). Martin Bakole’s last name was also given. But it is better to ask the promoters about the nuances of the negotiations.
“USIK PERFORMED WEAKLY AGAINST DUBOIS, IT WILL BE EVEN WORSE”
— When listing Gassiev’s potential opponents, you mentioned the name of Dubois, who lost at the end of August in Poland to WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Alexander Usik by technical knockout in the ninth round. Can you share your thoughts on this fight?
— Everything about this fight comes down to the events of the fifth round (when Dubois’ blow was considered a low blow). A very controversial point… It’s very difficult to say for sure. But here’s a question for the judge: either count the knockdown or issue a warning. A very controversial point. I remember Andre Ward’s blow against Sergey Kovalev (during the rematch between the boxers in June 2017, when after Ward’s blow under the belt, Kovalev was knocked out – note “”.) Ward’s blow was lower and more incorrect than Dubois’ move.
But overall, I would rate Usik’s performance as weak. He showed 50 percent of what he had shown before. At Dubois level, it works, but then it will get even worse. Age probably affects. Usik is a fast and distant boxer. Power style boxers last longer.
— The Croatian Filip Hrgovic (31 years old, 16-0, KO 13) is designated as Usik’s next opponent.
— By the way, Hrgovic is a good boxer. Yes, not a star, but still. Let’s see.
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Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
