By Jim Dower: IBF World cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev (25-0, 18 KOs) took care of his first opponent in the World Boxing Super Series last Saturday night in his 3rd round knockout win over Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (53-4-1, 37 KOs), and he’s now heading towards a unification fight against WBA World cruiserweight belt holder Yunier Dorticos (22-0, 21 KOs) in his next fight in early 2018.
By Jim Dower: In a devastating display of punching power, IBF World cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev (25-0, 18 KOs) destroyed former 2-time cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (53-4-1, 37 KOs) in the 3rd round on Saturday night in their quarterfinals fight in the World Boxing Super Series tournament at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
By Jim Dower: IBF cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev weighed in at 199 pounds on Friday for his title defense against former IBF/WBC champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
World Boxing Super Series Hits the East Coast as IBF Champion Murat Gassiev Battles Former Champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk.
WBSS Cruiserweight Quarter-final Matchup Saturday, October 21 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
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By Jim Dower: WBC cruiserweight Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (49-2-1, 35 KO’s) had an easy time stopping 44-year-old Italian Giacobbe Fragomeni (31-4-2, 12 KOs) by a 6th round stoppage on Friday night at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The fight was halted after the 6th round due to a large cut under Fragomeni’s left eye. At the time of the stoppage, the 32-year-old Wlodarczyk had been easily winning the fight against the much shorter 5’9″ Fragomeni.
There wasn’t much interesting action in the fight other than in the 4th round when Wlodarczyk hit Fragomeni with a left hook while the referee was trying to break the two apart from a clinch. The shot hit Fragomeni when he wasn’t ready for it and dropped him. It wasn’t much of a punch but it was clearly thrown while the referee was breaking the two fighters apart.
By Scott Gilfoid: After having taking a thrashing from WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson last Saturday night in Quebec, Canada, Britain’s Tony Bellew (20-2-1, 12 KO’s) has decided it’s too much trouble for him to struggle to make the 175 lb. weight division, and that he instead thinks he’ll be better off fighting as a cruiserweight.
The 6’3″ Bellew doesn’t want to take on the two champions – Marco Huck and Yoan Pablo Hernandez – first, but he intends on going after WBC cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (48-2-1, 34 KO’s) first, and if successful, to fight Huck and Hernandez in unification bouts.
By Jim Dower: WBC cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (48-2-1, 34 KO’s) was able to survive a 3rd round knockdown to come back and stop a weary Rakhim Chakhkiev (16-1, 12 KO’s) in the 8th round on Friday night to retain his World Boxing Council title at the Dynamo Palace of Sports in Moscow, Russia. The finishing shot came from a left hook followed by an accidental head-butt that put Chakhkiev down for the second time in the 8th. The first knockdown came from a right hand to the side of the exhausted Chakhkiev’s head.
Wlodarczyk was trailing in the fight going into the 6th and knocked Chakhkiev down late in the round with a big left hand thrown while in close. Chakhkiev looked dog tired like he’d used up all of his energy in setting a blistering pace in the first five rounds.
In the 7th, Wlodarczyk knocked Chakhkiev down with a big left hook to the head. Chakhkiev had been having a good round when he got nailed. In the 8th, Wlodarczyk dropped a tired Chakhkiev two more times before referee Daniel Van de Wiele halted the fight.
By Eric Thomas: WBC cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (47-2-1, 33 KO’s) will be defending his title on June 21st this month against unbeaten Russian #2 WBC, #5 IBF, #9WBA, #11 WBO, Rakim Chakhkiev (16-0, 12 KO’s) at the Dynamo Palace of Sports in Krylatskoye in Moscow, Russia.
This is going to be a tough title defense for the 31-year-old Wlodarczyk because he’s fought mainly fighters that stay on the outside for his entire 13-year pro career. The 30-year-old Chakhkiev is strictly an inside fighter and he’s very good at it.
By Jason Kim: Former WBA/WBC cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck (36-5, 22 Ko’s) will be moving back down to cruiserweight on February 9th to challenge WBC champion Krzysztof Włodarczyk (47-2, 33 KOs) at the Equatorial Guinea in a large soccer stadium. The 40-year-old Mormeck just finished fighting IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in a losing effort last March.
Mormeck, 5’11” was much too small for the 6’6” Ukrainian and he ended up getting stopped in the 4th round. The money had to have been really good for Mormeck, and it’s unclear whether he’d have made the same kind of money had he stuck it out at cruiserweight during the last three years. Mormeck moved up in weight from cruiserweight after losing his WBA/WBC titles to David Haye in November 2007.