There is no dispute: Oleksandr Usyk is the best cruiserweight on the planet.
Usyk made history as he gave Murat Gassiev a thorough boxing lesson in a near-shutout decision win to become the undisputed cruiserweight world champion in the World Boxing Super Series final on Saturday before a capacity crowd of 24,000 at Olimpiysky Sports Complex in Moscow.
Usyk, the No. 1 seed in the eight-man field, became the first fighter in division history to unify all four world titles, and he also won the Muhammad Ali Trophy commissioned for the winner of the single elimination tournament that began last September. The trophy was presented to Usyk in the ring by Ali’s widow, Lonnie Ali.
The judges had no trouble scoring the fight — 120-108, 119-109 and 119-109 for Usyk. ESPN.com had it 118-110 for Usyk, who happens to share the same birthday (Jan. 17) with Ali.
Usyk became only the third undisputed cruiserweight world champion in division history, joining three-belt champions Evander Holyfield and O’Neil Bell, and only the fourth male fighter to unify all four major titles in any weight class in the four-belt era, joining former middleweight champions Bernard Hopkins (2004) and Jermain Taylor (2005) and former junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford (2017).
Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs), a 31-year-old southpaw and the 2012 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist from Ukraine, relied primarily on his best weapon — his right jab — while Gassiev, a noted body puncher, targeted Usyk’s midsection, but he didn’t have much success.
Usyk landed tons of jabs while Gassiev’s offense was more sporadic. He did connect with some heavy left hands to the body in the second round to force Usyk back and a terrific right hand to the head that rocked Usyk in the final seconds of the fourth round, but there was little else of note.
Usyk continued to land his jab cleanly in the sixth round as he rocked Gassiev’s head back regularly. Gassiev (26-1, 19 KOs), 24, of Russia, looked lost with no answers. Gassiev did land a clean right hand in the seventh round, but Usyk, with the reputation for having an excellent chin, didn’t budge, which had to be discouraging for Gassiev.
Gassiev was reduced to searching for one big punch while the faster, more skillful Usyk boxed circles around him and threw and landed way more punches round after round.
After the ninth round, Abel Sanchez, Gassiev’s trainer, was frank with him, telling him he needed to a knockout to have a chance to win. But the bewildered Gassiev looked dejected as Usyk continued to take it to him for the rest of the fight, swelling his left eye, bloodying his nose in the 10th round and pasting him with jabs, uppercuts and combinations.
Usyk showed his tremendous conditioning by closing the show with 117 punches and landing 47 in the 12th round, the most in either category for the fight to cap a historic victory.