The date and venue for the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight final for the undisputed championship between two-belt titleholders Oleksandr Usyk and Murat Gassiev is finally official.
Though the Russian Boxing Federation said recently that the fight would take place on July 21 at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex in Moscow, the deal was not finalized until Friday, which is when WBSS officials made the announcement.
The winner of the fight will take home the Muhammad Ali Trophy commissioned for the tournament and will become the first undisputed cruiserweight champion of the four-belt era and only the fourth male fighter to unify all four major titles in any division. The winner will join former middleweight champions Bernard Hopkins (2004) and Jermain Taylor (2005) and former junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford, who unified the four belts this past August and then vacated to move up to welterweight and win a world title on June 9.
The fight was originally scheduled to take place on May 11 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but Usyk suffered a minor left elbow injury during his training camp, which forced the 200-pound final to be postponed and ultimately moved to a new location.
Usyk (14-0, 11 KOs), a 31-year-old southpaw, the 2012 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist from Ukraine, unified two belts in the semifinals of the eight-man tournament with a majority decision win over Mairis Briedis on Jan. 27 in Briedis’ hometown of Riga, Latvia.
“I am once again traveling to the territory of the rival,” Usyk said. “I did it with success in the quarter and semifinal, and now I am going to Moscow to win.”
Usyk won his title in Poland, made his first two defenses in the United States and won the WBSS quarterfinal by 10th-round knockout against former longtime titleholder Marco Huck in the latter’s home country, in Berlin.
Gassiev (26-0, 19 KOs), 24, of Russia, also unified two world titles in the semifinals with a stirring 12th-round knockout of Yunier Dorticos in a fight of the year contender Feb. 3 in Sochi, Russia.
Gassiev, who trains in Big Bear Lake, California, under Abel Sanchez and alongside unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin, is happy to fight at home but said he would have been willing to travel.
“I was ready to fight Usyk anywhere in the world,” Gassiev said. “I am sure Usyk and I will make a great fight. The winner takes it all!”
In the quarterfinals, Gassiev knocked out former titlist Krzysztof Wlodarczyk with a body shot in the third round of a fight that took place in Newark, New Jersey.
“I am very glad that the long negotiations ended with this decision: We will have the cruiserweight final of the World Boxing Super Series in Moscow,” said Umar Kremlev, the secretary-general of the Russian Boxing Federation. “We are waiting for a beautiful and spectacular fight performed by Oleksandr and Murat. I am confident that this fight will be one of the best in the current decade.”
In one of the undercard fights, undisputed women’s welterweight world champion Cecilia Braekhus (33-0, 9 KOs) will defend her belts against Inna Sagaydakovskaya, (7-0, 3 KOs), 33, of Russia.
Sagaydakovskaya, who holds an interim junior middleweight title, is moving down in weight to challenge Braekhus, 36, of Norway.
“This is a huge international event, a great event for women’s boxing,” said Braekhus, who is training in Kiev, Ukraine. “Oslo (Norway) is not so far from Moscow, and I believe many of my fans will be able to come to the fight. I want to be a global champion. I fought in Germany, in Norway, in the USA. And I will fight in Moscow now.
“Inna is dropping down in weight, but she is very strong physically and mentally. She has experience, and this is not going to be easy at all. This will be a great fight.”
Said Sagaydakovskaya: “I was waiting for this moment. Finally, this fight will be held. I expect to have a great training camp with my new coach Andrei Ivichuk, and I expect that victory will be mine. I’ve boxed on the national team for many years. I have a lot of experience, and it’s not even about who has so many fights but who is more prepared and more ready to win on July 21.”
The WBSS, which will have three tournaments in its second season — bantamweight, junior welterweight and a third division to be announced — also still needs to wrap up its first-season super middleweight tournament.
That final has also been postponed and is awaiting announcement of a new date. It was supposed to take place June 2 at the O2 Arena in London, but world titleholder George Groves suffered a dislocated left shoulder during his unanimous decision victory over British countryman Chris Eubank Jr. in the semifinals on Feb. 17 and asked for a postponement of the 168-pound final. Groves (28-3, 20 KOs), 30, will face countryman Callum Smith (24-0, 17 KOs), 27.