In the next fight, Murat Gassiev will meet with Otto Wallin

One of the most famous domestic boxers, Murat Gassiev, after a long break, will fight not with a passing, but with a very strong opponent. At the end of September, he will defend the title of the so-called intercontinental World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight champion in a fight against the Swede Otto Wallin, whose record is truly embellished, oddly enough, by his only defeat. In 2019, Wallin caused enormous problems for the outstanding British fighter Tyson Fury.

The organizers of the IBA Champions Night tournament, which will be held in Belek, Turkey on September 30, said that the main fight in its framework will be a match for the title of the so-called intercontinental champion of the World Boxing Association, the owner of which is usually at the forefront of the queue for a full championship title, between its owner Murat Gassiev and Otto Wallin. We are talking about a fairly significant event for Russian professional boxing. It could have a positive impact on the stalling career of one of the most interesting domestic boxers.

Murat Gassiev earned an excellent reputation at the end of the last decade. The fighter, who is now 29 years old, gained fame when in 2016, being very young, he unexpectedly defeated his famous compatriot Denis Lebedev in a championship fight in the first heavyweight division (up to 90.7 kg). Then Gassiev was selected to perform in the large-scale project World Boxing Super Series, which united the strongest representatives of the category. He reached the final, knocking out the highly ranked Pole Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and Cuban Yunier Dorticos. In the decisive battle, Gassiev lost on points to Ukrainian Alexander Usik, who was later recognized as the best fighter of 2018, regardless of weight category. And this defeat remains the only one on his track record.

But the continuation of Gassiev’s career so far is not at all what its high-profile start hinted at. Especially when you compare it with the career of the Russian’s opponent in the decisive match of the World Boxing Super Series.

Murat Gassiev and Alexander Usik almost simultaneously made the decision to move from the first heavyweight to the more prominent heavyweight. And he has already brought colossal fame and colossal fees to the Ukrainian. Thanks to two victories over British Anthony Joshua in 2021 And 2022 years, Usik took away the WBA, International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) championship belts, along with the informal status of the king of the heavyweight division, and in August defended it by knocking out compatriot Joshua Daniel Dubois.

Murat Gassiev did not have a quick break in the heavyweight division. Injuries often disrupted his fights, but Gassiev fought, who, against the backdrop of international sanctions imposed on Russian boxing, began to represent Armenia in addition to Russia, exclusively against either powerful, but long past their peak, or simply ordinary opponents, such as, for example, 39- summer American Mike Balogan. Gassiev knocked him out in his previous fight, which took place in March in Yerevan, winning the same WBA intercontinental belt.

Now, finally, he will be confronted by a boxer, if not an elite one, then at least close to the elite.

Otto Wallin has 27 fights with one misfire in his track record. But it was the misfire, oddly enough, that truly embellishes the biography of the 32-year-old Swede, who mostly managed to defeat opponents of modest level.

In September 2019, Wallin was chosen as an opponent of the famous Briton Tyson Fury. Fury at that moment was making a return to boxing after a long period of torment associated with various kinds of problems – doping, unstable psyche – resulting in the loss of the champion title and a fall in the rankings. The Briton has already shown that he is still very good, finishing in a draw in a dramatic match with American Deontay Wilder, owner of the World Boxing Council (WBC) belt. The fight with Wallin was perceived more as a warm-up before the rematch against Wilder.

However, it turned out to be unexpectedly sharp. Otto Wallin was so sharp and precise in it that in the sixth round the question arose about whether Tyson Fury, who was suffering from a severe cut, could, in principle, continue to perform. The doctor still allowed him to stay in the ring, but at the end of the fight the Briton almost found himself knocked down, winning on points, and then triumphantly defeating Wilder.

After that loss, Otto Wallin, however, contrary to assumptions, never received an invitation to participate in another top fight. He won five victories in a row, but most of them were over opponents without any special merit in boxing. The only exception is the convincing win on points against American veteran Dominic Breazeale in 2021.

Alexey Dospehov