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Former WBA, IBF cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev is ready to start preparing for his next fight, which is currently being targeted for the summer.
“Murat is ready to begin intensive training,” a team spokesman told Igor Lazorin.
Gassiev made his heavyweight debut last year, when he knocked out Albanian Nuri Seferi on October 31.
The fight marked his return to the ring after more than a two year hiatus. Because of injuries and promotional issues, Gassiev remained on the sidelines for an extended period of time.
The fight with Seferi took place in Russia and more than likely his next fight will take place on Russian soil as well.
In total, the 27-year-old feared puncher has a solid record of 27 victories (20 by knockout) and one defeat.
In 2016, Gassiev won the IBF world cruiserweight title by defeating compatriot Denis Lebedev, then defended his belt once. In 2018, Gassiev added more gold when he captured the World Boxing Association (WBA) title with a sensational stoppage over Cuba’s Yuniel Dorticos in the semi-finals of the World Boxing Super Series tournament.
However, Gassiev would then suffer the first defeat of his career when he was outboxed by Oleksander Usyk in the final bout of the WBSS tournament – with Usyk walking away with all four of the major titles at cruiser.