July 24,
2018 (www.news.com.au) Ukrainian boxer
Oleksandr Usyk has unified the cruiserweight division by beating Russian Murat
Gassiev by unanimous decision on Sunday morning. Despite facing a hostile crowd
in Moscow, Usyk controlled the fight with his jab to add Gassiev’s WBA and IBF
titles to his own WBC and WBO belts. After just 15 fights he has become the
first fighter in boxing history to hold all WBC,
WBA, WBO, IBF and Ring Magazine world cruiserweight world titles.
Gassiev landed some heavy body shots
when he got inside Usyk’s reach, but started to tire and the Ukrainian was
utterly dominant in the later rounds as Gassiev swung wild haymakers. Usyk, a
former Olympic gold medalist, holds all major titles after just 15 professional
fights — the majority of which he travelled abroad to take on rivals in their
own backyard. “Moscow, 2018. Bang! Daddy’s in the building,” Usyk said.
Usyk added that he could move up to
heavyweight to fight the experienced British fighter Tony Bellow. He called out
the British star straight after his victory — putting the entire heavyweight
division on notice. “If he doesn’t want to drop down (to cruiserweight), I’ll
happily go up to meet him,” Usyk said. “I’ll just eat extra pasta.”
Olexander Usyk was born in Crimea
and has said he was forced to leave the peninsula after Russia annexed it from
Ukraine in 2014. Despite the tension between the two countries, Usyk and
Gassiev embraced warmly after the fight with broad smiles. You may see all 12 rounds of this
fight in the window below.
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