2023-09-30 21:43:00
Murat Gassiev in the summer of 2018, he is the owner of two belts, a contender for the title of absolute champion in the first heavyweight division and a boxer with the potential of our country’s main star in the world ring. In the fall of 2023, he is a heavyweight without titles, victories over the top of the division, but with several years of downtime behind him and dim prospects. And the fight with Otto Wallin, which had just ended at a tournament in Turkey, could, in a good scenario, give a positive impetus to Gassiev’s stalled career.
Murat Gassiev moved brilliantly along his sports path until July 2018. By that time, the young Ossetian for the first heavyweight (he was only 25) had gained a surprisingly powerful move: he won 26 victories without playing even once, won two belts and reached the final of the first WBSS Super Series (a grandiose tournament held at that time among the “cruisers” “). As a matter of fact, Murat’s fairy tale ended in the decisive match of the Series. In it, the Russian met with another double champion of his division at the time, Alexander Usik, and lost to him by one wicket in the Moscow final in July 2018. It so happened that over time both participants in that fight moved up to heavyweight. Only Usik managed to become one of the division leaders there, but Gassiev spent the last five years in such a way that many boxing fans could have completely forgotten about such a person.
Gassiev made his heavyweight debut only two years after his defeat to Usik – in the fall of 2020. And in that fight, Murat, one of the most formidable heavyweight knockouts in the recent past, faced the little-known Nuri Seferi as his opponent. The Ossetians dismantled him already in the first round – and what could one expect from such a confrontation? After that victory, Gassiev again disappeared from the radar for almost a year, and then, in the summer of 2021, he knocked out another not-so-star opponent, Michael Wallisch from Germany, in the fourth round. Over the next two seasons, Gassiev fought twice more – and in both cases it all ended in an early knockout for his opponents, who were obviously very inferior to the Russian in class.
Against the backdrop of Gassiev’s latest rivals, his new opponent Otto Wallin It looked like the most difficult test for Murat since the fight with Usik. The Swedish heavyweight came into the fight with the Russian on a streak of five victories. Wallin’s overall record to date consisted of 25 wins and only one loss. And here it’s worth noting that only Tyson Fury had previously managed to beat the Swede as a professional: in the fall of 2019, the Briton snatched a difficult judge’s decision from Wallin’s gloves.
Wallin is distinguished by his ability to fight competently and achieve results in ways that are not always spectacular, but at the same time quite effective. And the Swede’s experience has endowed him with the ability to adapt to any opponents. All these qualities seemed to be fraught with danger for Gassiev, who had long been unaccustomed to big fights. As a result, the worst fears were confirmed. Wallin competently worked the entire fight as number two, taking the advantage in the second half. At the beginning, Gassiev seemed to get closer to his opponent at moments and bother him with periodic heavy hits. At the same time, the Swede fired back with a jab from the right (Wallin works from a southpaw) and rarely added side and body transfers to these pokes. As a result, this methodical work led to the fact that Otto, who was wiping the ropes for most of the fight, turned out to be much fresher than Murat in the decisive rounds and due to this he was able to slightly surpass the Russian on the judges’ cards. As a result, Wallin won by split decision, and Gassiev will now probably think about whether to remain in the heavyweight division. Firstly, before the fight, Murat showed only 98 kilograms on the scales – this is very little for the division. And secondly, Gassiev lost in the heavyweight division to his first dangerous opponent.
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