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| Date | 3 February 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Bolshoy Ice Dome, Sochi, Southern Federal District, Russia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBA and IBF cruiserweight titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gassiev defeats Dorticos in the 12th round via TKO | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Murat Gassiev vs. Yuniel Dorticos was a professional boxing match contested on 3 February 2018, for the WBA and IBF cruiserweight championship. [1]
Immediately after Gassiev's win over Włodarczyk in the last of the WBSS quarter finals, WBA "Regular" champion Yuniel Dorticos, who had stopped Dmitry Kudryashov in September, entered the ring. Dorticos told Gassiev, "Take a good vacation. I wanna prepare the right dosage for you of ibuprofen and anesthesia for the next fight, so it’s less painful." [2]
On 29 October, Gassiev's trainer Abel Sanchez stated the fight could take place on 20 January 2018. [3] The fight was confirmed to take place at the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi, Russia on 3 February 2018. [4]
On 1 February, the WBA demoted their champion Denis Lebedev to 'champion in recess' and promoted Dorticos from 'regular' to 'full' champion in order for the fight with Gassiev to be a true unification. The WBA stated the winner of the tournament would be mandated to fight Lebedev. [5]
Dorticos was always coming forward, but looked fatigued in the second half of the fight. Gassiev would drop Dorticos three times in the final round to score a dramatic win and advance to the final of the tournament. The first knockdown came after a left hook to the jaw. Dorticos got back to his feet on unsteady legs. Gassiev knocked him down for a second time with a left hook to the head. The last knockdown drove Dorticos through the ropes, forcing referee Eddie Claudio to end the bout at 2 minutes and 52 seconds. [6] At the time of stoppage Gassiev was ahead 105-104, 106-103, 106-103 on all three scorecards. [7] CompuBox Stats showed that Gassiev landed 190 of 608 punches thrown (31%) and Dorticos landed 132 of his 602 thrown (22%). [8] [9]
After Gassiev's victory, unified WBO and WBC cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (who had beaten Mairis Briedis the previous week) entered the ring and congratulated him, setting up the final of the tournament, set to take place in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 11 May. [10]
Dorticos was upset after the fight and remained on his stool for an extended period of time. He cried at the post fight press conference. Gassiev walked over to him and consoled him. [11]
Confirmed bouts: [12]
Krzysztof Włodarczyk is a Polish professional boxer. He is a two-time former cruiserweight world champion, having held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title from 2006 to 2007 and the World Boxing Council (WBC) title from 2010 to 2014.
Muamer Hukić, best known as Marco Huck, is a Bosniak German professional boxer. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2009 to 2015, and is the joint-longest reigning cruiserweight world champion of all time, having made thirteen consecutive successful defenses, a division record shared with Johnny Nelson. Huck also held the IBO cruiserweight title from 2016 to 2017, the European cruiserweight title from 2008 to 2009, and has challenged once for the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title in 2012.
Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held the undisputed championship in two weight classes, at cruiserweight and heavyweight, and reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from May to June 2024. He has also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) title since 2021, and the Ring magazine title since 2022.
Anthony Lewis Bellew is an English former professional boxer who competed from 2007 to 2018, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator. He held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2016 to 2017. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles between 2010 and 2014, the European cruiserweight title from 2015 to 2016. As an amateur, he is a three-time ABA heavyweight champion. He portrayed antagonist boxer Ricky Conlan in the films Creed and Creed III.
Yuniel Dorticós Pao is a Cuban professional boxer. He is a former cruiserweight world champion, having held the WBA (Regular) title from 2017 to 2018 and the IBF title from 2019 to 2020.
Denis Aleksandrovich Lebedev is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2001 to 2019. He was a unified world cruiserweight champion, having held the WBA title from 2012 to 2018, and the IBF title in 2016.
Mairis Briedis is a former Latvian professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2024. He was a three-time cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF and Ring titles from 2020 to 2022; the WBC title from 2017 to 2018; and the WBO title in 2019. Upon winning the WBC title in 2017, he became the first Latvian to hold a world boxing title. He was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 2017.
Youri Kayembre Kalenga is a Congolese-French professional boxer. He is the former WBA interim Cruiserweight champion.
Murat Georgievich Gassiev is a Russian former unified cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2016 to 2018, and the WBA (Unified) title in 2018.
Omotunde Tabiti, better known as Andrew Tabiti, is an American professional boxer. He challenged once for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title in June 2019. As of February 2021, he is ranked as the world’s fifth best active cruiserweight by The Ring magazine.
Arsen Goulamirian is an Armenian-born French professional boxer. He previously held the World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight title from 2019 to 2024, having previously held the (Regular) version in 2019.
The World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) is a professional boxing tournament organised by Comosa AG.
The 2017–18 World Boxing Super Series – cruiserweight division was a World Boxing Super Series professional boxing tournament that took place between September 2017 and July 2018 in several countries. The Super Series featured eight top-rated cruiserweight boxers in a single-elimination tournament. Its winner will hold world titles for all four of boxing's major sanctioning bodies, The Ring Magazine title, as well as the Muhammad Ali trophy. The tournament was organized by Comosa AG. A super middleweight tournament was held concurrently, with prize money for both competitions totalling US$50 million.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Marco Huck was a professional boxing match contested on 9 September 2017, for the WBO Cruiserweight championship.
Murat Gassiev vs. Krzysztof Włodarczyk was a professional boxing match contested on October 21, 2017, for the IBF cruiserweight championship.
Yunier Dorticos vs. Dmitry Kudryashov was a professional boxing match contested on September 23, 2017, for the WBA (Regular) cruiserweight championship.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Mairis Briedis was a professional boxing match contested on 27 January 2018, for the WBC and WBO cruiserweight championship.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Murat Gassiev was a professional boxing match contested on 21 July 2018, for the undisputed cruiserweight championship.
Mairis Briedis vs. Mike Perez was a professional boxing match contested on 30 September 2017, for the WBC cruiserweight championship.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tony Bellew, billed as He Who Dares was a professional boxing match contested on 10 November 2018, for the undisputed cruiserweight championship.
