Oleksandr Usyk vs. Murat Gassiev - World Boxing Super Series final preview and fight coverage

Season one of the World Boxing Super Series is coming to a close, and the first of two championship finals is arguably the best boxing match of the year thus far. On Saturday, July 21st at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia, cruiserweights Oleksandr Usyk (14-0, 11 KOs) and Murat Gassiev (26-0-1 NC, 19 KOs) will compete for millions of dollars in prize money, the inaugural Muhammad Ali Trophy, and they’ll be unifying all four major title belts. Oh yes, this is a high stakes matchup.

Ukraine’s Usyk could potentially go on a run that is almost like the boxing equivalent of Shogun Rua’s 2005. He went to Germany and TKO’d former champion Marco Huck in the quarterfinals. Then he won a thrilling decision over Latvia’s Mairis Briedis in Latvia. Now, much to his displeasure, the Olympic gold medalist is going to enemy territory yet again. Keep in mind that three fights prior to entering the WBSS, Usyk won the WBO title against Poland’s Krzyzstof Glowacki in Poland. He is the ultimate road warrior.

Gassiev is hailed as “the next Gennady Golovkin.” Why is that, you say? Well he is a training partner of Golovkin down in California, and they’re both trained by Abel Sanchez. Gassiev is also only 24 years old, so he might be a future heavyweight contender down the line, let alone where he is as a cruiserweight force. He’s a big body puncher and loves to double up that left hand at any opportunity. In the quarterfinals, Gassiev dispatched Krzysztof Wlodarczyk with a body shot KO, then in an epic semifinal, he handed Yunier Dorticos his first career loss with a 12th round TKO through the ropes.

It is absolutely not far-fetched to consider the winner no worse than a top 3 pound-for-pound boxer, as this tournament has pitted almost all of the best cruiserweights against each other.

ITV Box Office will broadcast Usyk vs. Gassiev on PPV, but for viewers in the United States, this fight will be streamed live on KlowdTV (start time: 3 PM ET/12 PM PT) at a one-time cost of $10, which sucks, but once season 1 is over, all WBSS fights will be shown on DAZN US this fall.

Bloody Elbow will have full fight coverage of Usyk vs. Gassiev throughout the week, including betting odds, a full preview, fight night results, and much more. I cannot wait for this fight, and I urge even casual boxing fans to find a way to watch this.