Murat Gassiev

Early years

Gassiev made his professional boxing debut at the age of 17 on September 21, 2011. He fought at the Manezh in Vladikavkaz, Russia against 22 year old Roman Mirzoev, who only had 3 professional win less fights, in a scheduled four round fight. The fight went four rounds as Gassiev earned a unanimous decision seeing the judges score it 40-37, 39-38 & 39-38 in his favour. Gassiev had his second fight in November at the Traktor Sport Palace in Chelyabinsk, Russia defeating Vladimir Chuklin, knocking him out in round 4. Over the next 18 months, Gassiev remained unbeaten with a record of 11 wins with 7 coming inside the distance at a tender age of 19.

In June 2013, Gassiev defeated 24 year old Levan Jomardashvili (31-10, 21 KOs) to claim the vacant WBC Youth world cruiserweight title at the Yunost Arena in Chelyabinsk. In round 1, Jomardashvili was dropped twice scoring it a 10-7 round for Gassiev and in round 2, the fight was stopped after Jomardashvili was dropped a further two times. Gassiev defended the title in December against Ivica Bacurin 16-3-1, 7 KOs). The fight went the full 10 rounds as Gassiev won via unanimous decision (98-89, 100-87, 96-91). Bacurin was knocked down once in round 2, in round 8 and in round 10. He also had a point deducted in round 10.

On February 1, 2014 Gassiev fought veteran 31 year old Belgium boxer Ismail Abdoul 51-27-2, 19 KOs). This was the first 12 round fight Gassiev was involved in and it went the whole distance. The scorecards were read 120-108, 117-111, 115-113 all in favor of Gassiev. With the win, he also won the vacant IBF East/West Europe cruiserweight title. On August 30, 2014 Gassiev fought on the undercard of WBO cruiserweight title fight Huck-Larghetti at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. He knocked out the undefeated Leon Harth (9-0, 6 KOs). Two months later, Gassiev won the vacant IBF Inter-Continental cruiserweight title after stopping Engin Karakaplan in round 1.

Rise up the ranks

Gassiev had a busy year in 2015 fighting four times. In January making his debut in the United States, he stopped Terrance Smith in round 4 before fighting his biggest challenge to date, former USBA and NABF cruiserweight champion Felix Cora Jr. (25-6-2, 14 KOs) at the Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Gassiev successfully defended his IBF Inter-Continental title in round 9 of the scheduled 12 round fight. Gassiev stalked Cora early with an assault to the body. In round 9, Cora would no longer defend himself, which forced referee Johnny Callas to finally stop the fight.

In June, Gassiev knocked out Rodney Moore in 2 rounds and then fought the undefeated Isiah Thomas (15-0, 6 KOs) on December 18, 2015 at the Palms Casino Resort, in Las Vegas, Nevada in an IBF eliminator. The fight ended after round 3 in a no contest after Thomas was hit accidentally after the bell and could no longer continue following the ringside doctor's orders.

Gassiev vs. Shimmel

It was announced that Gassiev would get another opportunity in an eliminator against #10 IBF Jordan Shimmell (20-1, 16 KOs), whose only defeat came to Isiah Thomas. The fight took place at the Black Bear Casino in Carlton, Minnesota on May 17, 2016. Gassiev stayed unbeaten in defeating Shimmell in a 1st round knockout. Gassiev knocked Shimmell down with a left hook to the head. The back of Shimmell’s head bounced off the canvas when he was knocked down and was out cold. The fight was immediately stopped by referee Mark Nelson with just six seconds of round 1 remaining. With the win, Gassiev would now fight the unified WBA and IBF cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev, who defeated Victor Emilio Ramirez in a unification bout the following week.

Gassiev vs. Lebedev

It was announced in August 2016, that a fight between Gassiev and unified cruiserweight world champion Denis Lebedev (29-2, 22 KOs) was in the works and a date was set for December 3 at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow. At the official weigh in on December 2, Lebedev weighed in at 199.7 lbs as Gassiev weighed 198.3 lbs. Lebedev successfully applied for only the IBF title to be at stake as a result, retaining his WBA (Super) title in the process.

In a warrior-like performance, Lebedev kept the attack up through the 12 rounds as he went on to lose a split decision, losing the IBF title in the process. Two judges scored it 116-112 and 116-111 for Gassiev as the third scored it 114-113 for Lebedev. Lebedev was knocked down in round 5, following a left shot to the body, but managed to beat the count and immediately changed style to avoid further punishment to the body. In the post fight interviews, Lebedev thought he had done enough to win the fight or at least earn a draw and wanted a rematch.