By Jim Dower: WBA cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev (29-2, 22 KOs) will be defending his World Boxing Association title next against unbeaten #2 IBF, #6 WBA challenger Murat Gassiev (23-0, 17 KOs) in November or December in a fight that will be staged in Russia. Both fighters are from Russia, so there won’t be an advantage for either of them.
The promoters for the fight will be Andrey Ryabinskiy’s World of Boxing.
This is a big step up for the 22-year-old Gassiev, because he’s never faced anyone remotedly as good as the 37-year-old Lebedev during his short five-year pro career. However, Gassiev is catching Lebedev at the right time in his career, because he’s getting up there in age at 37, and he’s not faced a real threat since his 11th round knockout loss to Guillermo Joones in 2013.