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Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [SPOILERS]


pittbox
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I start this thread, so we can discuss probably the biggest fight of the year. Who's your favorite? I think that Usyk should outbox Gassiev, but I'm far for being sure. Gassiev gets better and better in each fight. I'm very excited about this bout. Much more compared to last clash for the 4 belts (Crawford v Indongo), because we had a very clear favorite that time. Now, it's the different case.

 

Undercard's also looking quite interesting:

 

We are going to see the super middleweight clash between Fedor Chudinov and Nadjib Mohammedi. Fedor had a very promising career as the WBA champ, but they robbed him in the rematch against Sturm and he suffered a setback loss against George Groves. He didn't look that good in his last fight I watched, against Ryan Ford. I like Nadjib Mohammedi, even though he's probably the most known out of his two quick losses against Kovalev and Gvozdyk. His chin is not very tough, but he's quite skillful. He had a surprisingly easy night against decent Hadillah Mohoumadi. I think it's an interesting match-up.

 

Magomed Madiev fights Guido Nicolas Pitto in the middleweight division. I don't know a bit about Madiev, but I'm familiar with Pitto. He's a very good gatekeeper. I think that he deserved at least a draw in his last bout against Baysangurov and he scored some upsets in the past. I think that this may be a late replacement as I don't remember seeing Pitto on the card last time I checked it out, but not sure about that.

 

One of the most popular female boxers Cecilia Braekhus defends her undisputed crown against Russian Inna Sagaydakovskaya. I'm not an expert on female boxing, so I don't have much to say about that.

 

We're also going to see some familiar names like Mairis Briedis, Denis Shafikov and Konstantin Ponomarev.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

The most exciting fight of 2018.

 

- And it's not even being broadcast in the USA.

 

or is it? Does anyone know if maybe they licensed just the finals, with some US network?

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

To answer Pittbox's question: I see it 75 - 25 Usyk via an incredibly wide decision.

 

Usyk tends to fight to his opponent's level, and has sometimes looked a bit lackluster, but at his best he has the instincts of Loma and the athleticism of RJJ. He knows what he's up against in this fight, so he'll be bringing his "A" game, and he's not going to take any foolish chances.

 

 

Gassiev has indeed improved with every fight. Not unlike the development of AJ. But just as AJ is not ready to face Wilder with any sense of confidence, Gassiev is not really ready to face Usyk.

 

And still, Gassiev has great reflexes & 1-punch power. It only takes one mistake.....

Edited by Cableaddict
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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

 

We are going to see the super middleweight clash between Fedor Chudinov and Nadjib Mohammedi. Fedor had a very promising career as the WBA champ, but they robbed him in the rematch against Sturm and he suffered a setback loss against George Groves. He didn't look that good in his last fight I watched, against Ryan Ford. .

 

I never saw that fight, but that's exactly the kind of thing that derails a fighter's career. Not just because it's a loss, but becaue getting screwed by the judges makes you say, "fukit, why should I train so hard & sacrifice so much? I'm ever going to win big fights, anyway." And the downward spiral begins...

 

@#$@%# corruption .....

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

The most exciting fight of 2018.

 

- And it's not even being broadcast in the USA.

 

or is it? Does anyone know if maybe they licensed just the finals, with some US network?

 

 

i heard that streaming service of Hearns DAZN has US rights

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

Best matchup of the year. The WBSS cruiser tournament has been fantastic. At the start I thought Usyk would win it all. Now I'm picking Gassiev. Abel Sanchez doing great work with the russian. Still a 50/50 fight. Both these headed to Heavyweight.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

i heard that streaming service of Hearns DAZN has US rights

 

DAZN don't start til September. They have the rights to season 2. I just ordered mine on PS4, maybe Americans can aswell. It's on Super Channel in Canada.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

Can't wait for this fight. Such a shame that it's going to be criminally underexposed in both the US and the UK. I can't help feeling that for brand-building purposes WBSS should have tried to strike a broadcast deal that excluded PPV, even if it meant recouping less money in the short term. Seems to be key to the success of the mode longer term that people start to associate 'WBSS' and 'Ali Trophy' with a standard of quality and achievement and that's only going to happen with widespread exposure for the most important and compelling fights.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

It will be very close but Gassiev is fighting at home and he looked very impressive against Dorticos. I think he may be better at adapting to his opponent's style than Usyk. Gassiev on points.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

And we have a controversy. Fedor Chudinov beats Nadjib Mohammedi after a very poor performance (115-113, 116-112, 111-118). As you can see, one judge had it very wide for the Frenchman. I scored it 115-113 for Mohammedi. Nadjib outboxed Chudinov and landed more telling blows in most of the rounds. Chudinov wasn't very active and his defense looked poor. He looked like he knew that he had lost and appeared to be confused by the decision. Mohammedi was very angry when the scorecards had been read and he got an applause from the Russian crowd, who also booed the decision. Chudinov's career at the top level seems to be over, while Mohammedi gives another good performance as a super-middleweight.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

#### SPOILER CITY #######

 

 

Well, that sure sucked.

 

As expected, Usyk completely outclassed Gassiev, but he di so in the most cowardly way possible. It was a Billy Joe Saunders - level performance. All flash & no substance.

 

Usyk accomplished three things tonight:

 

1: He made lots of money winning the Ali trophy.

 

2: He bored the fans into a stupor.

 

3: He proved that he has absolutely no future at HW.

 

 

I still respect the man, but I'll be perfectly content to never see him fight again.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

--- Like Bellew said, much more $$$ in the heavy division.

 

Time for Usyk to mess around with heavies if he's interested in reward.

 

 

Imagine Usyk trying to jab his way to a UD against Joshua or Wilder...

 

I don't think so.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

--- The standard parlance being thrown around is Deyonce couldn't hit Usyk in the ass with a handful of rice.

 

havent seen the fight but media and fans and even Gassiev are raving over usyks masterclass. That makes you #1 and the lonely only in your own class!

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

--- The standard parlance being thrown around is Deyonce couldn't hit Usyk in the ass with a handful of rice.

 

havent seen the fight but media and fans and even Gassiev are raving over usyks masterclass. That makes you #1 and the lonely only in your own class!

 

 

Usyk can't win top-level HW fights by jabbing and moving. Plus, Wilder has a serious reach advantage, and crazy hand speed. To think that Usyk could beat him is practically infantile.

 

Usyk is a brilliant CW, and he should stay at CW.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

Usyk can't win top-level HW fights by jabbing and moving. Plus, Wilder has a serious reach advantage, and crazy hand speed. To think that Usyk could beat him is practically infantile.

 

Usyk is a brilliant CW, and he should stay at CW.

 

You may have a point here, but I can't agree with what you previously said that Usyk fought cowardly. In my opinion it was a showcase how to fight smart, but not cowardly. Yeah, during the first few rounds, I also thought that he may do a little more but throwing jabs. Later, he was landing straight left hands, uppercuts and hooks behind the guard of Gassiev, though. Usyk was very busy thorough the fight and he wasn't running away. Keep in mind that Gassiev was behind this high guard all the time, so it wasn't easy to land cleanly on him. Even in the 12th round, when Usyk could've just played it safe, he totally outclassed Gassiev by being busy.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

#### SPOILER CITY #######

 

 

Well, that sure sucked.

 

As expected, Usyk completely outclassed Gassiev, but he di so in the most cowardly way possible. It was a Billy Joe Saunders - level performance. All flash & no substance.

 

Usyk accomplished three things tonight:

 

1: He made lots of money winning the Ali trophy.

 

2: He bored the fans into a stupor.

 

3: He proved that he has absolutely no future at HW.

 

 

I still respect the man, but I'll be perfectly content to never see him fight again.

 

And yet...people are raving about that performance. It was just sad, watching him jab a slow Gassiev to death. He absorbed that one big shot at the end of round four, after that Gassiev became a non-presence. Sad fight.

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

Imagine Usyk trying to jab his way to a UD against Joshua or Wilder...

 

I don't think so.

 

 

Deyonce and AJ wouldn't have a clue how to cut the ring off, Usyk schools both over 12 easy

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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

And yet...people are raving about that performance. It was just sad, watching him jab a slow Gassiev to death. He absorbed that one big shot at the end of round four, after that Gassiev became a non-presence. Sad fight.

 

 

 

Well, I have to give @Layton something to criticize, now don't I? :haha:

 

 

I stand by my original comments. I think this will be Usyk's blueprint for his entire HW career, except maybe at the beginning when they feed him soft-hitting targets, so he can rack up some easy KO's. He's a brilliant fighter, but he's likely to become the next post-Sanders Wlad Klitschko.

 

This is NOT what the sport needs. How many casuals do you think actually enjoyed the WBSS final? How many true fans? (I found myself using the time to clean my room, after about round 2.)

 

Now, it's POSSIBLE that Usyk has the ability to radically change his style, and start sitting down on his punches, using more torso twist, etc. But when he does that, he will of course have to slow down and become less mobile, and then he's just another mid-level HW.

-------------------

 

And another thing: Usyk dominated Gassive (and Mchunu) not completely vis skill, the way Loma dominates opponents. What Usyk did was win via unbelievable, sustained output & backwards (not lateral) movement. That takes an incredible amount of energy / stamina, and kudos to Usyk for being in unbelievable condition, but how many more years can he do that? He's already 31 y-o, by the time he fights a top-ten HW, he'll be 33, maybe 34.

 

OK, again, he might be able to change his style, but he's never going to be a 1-punch monster, so he'll still need that movement & output against guys like Wilder and AJ. Can he sustain that into his mid thirties? For twelve rounds?

 

I doubt it, but we shall see, I guess.

Edited by Cableaddict
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Re: Oleksandr Usyk v Murat Gassiev for the undisputed cruiserweight crown [spoilerS]

 

Usyk thoroughly deserved the win. Boxed and moved to perfection. Gassiev couldn't get off and got demoralised. Gassiev only 24 but got plenty to work on- plenty of time to rebound. Usyk was at his magnificent best. Volume and movement. Fantastic to watch.

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