Murat Gassiev recently fought his way into the heavyweight conversation by securing the WBA regular title with a sixth-round Knockout of the Year contender over Kubrat Pulev in December.
Sitting on either side of Gassiev (33-2, 26 KOs) in the WBA hierarchy are Oleksandr Usyk, who holds the WBA world title, and British hopeful Moses Itauma, who is ranked No. 1 by the governing body.
Oddly enough, Itauma’s promoter Frank Warren (Queensberry) had announced that his 21-year-old heavyweight would challenge Pulev for the WBA regular belt following an order by the WBA for Pulev to defend his title against Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs), last October.
However, shortly after the announcement of Pulev vs. Itauma, Umar Kremlev’s IBA Pro revealed the Bulgarian would instead face Gassiev in Dubai.
“We were working on a deal with Pulev, and then somehow [Queensberry] came in with another deal,” Al Siesta, IBA Pro Director General, exclusively told Boxing Social. “Somehow their name was floated around, but it quickly went away.
“By the way, if Moses is still interested in fighting for the title, his team knows where to find us.”
Siesta said: “I think Moses is a very bright fighter. He looks very talented, and he’s very explosive. Only time will tell if he is going to achieve what everyone expects of him. Time is his compass. We will see what he’s capable of when the quality of opposition is raised and the fights become harder and more dangerous. He’ll either sink or swim when he truly tests himself. So far, so good, I would say.”
Itauma quickly found another dance partner in American heavyweight Jermaine Franklin, with the bout originally scheduled for the end of January. The fight was moved to March 28 due to an injury Itauma sustained during training camp.
Gassiev, meanwhile, has no scheduled title defense — yet.
“Murat is in camp, and we are negotiating with a few different parties,” Siesta explained. “Soon, we will announce the fight, which I’m sure will be very exciting on paper and in the ring.
“Look at the usual suspects,” he added. “There are some big names looking for fights — Filip Hrgovic, Jarrell Miller, and Zhilei Zhang. You also have Daniel Dubois, who fights Fabio Wardley, while Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder will also be back in action soon.
“Like I said, he’ll be fighting one of the usual suspects. That’s who he will be defending his title against. One of the fights will land. We are happy to do the fight anywhere in the world.”
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