Murat Georgievich Gassiev

Murat Georgievich Gassiev is a Russian southpaw-incorrect? No — orthodox — heavyweight known for power and a resume that spans an elite cruiserweight reign and a rise to the top of the heavyweight ranks. Standing 189 cm with a 193 cm reach and fighting out of Vladikavkaz, Gassiev emerged as a professional in 2011 and developed into one of Russia’s most prominent fighters at two weight classes. He is currently recorded as the WBA world heavyweight champion (see championship note below). Gassiev began his career campaigning at cruiserweight, compiling a string of early wins across Russia and Europe before claiming the vacant WBC Youth cruiserweight title in June 2013 with a second-round TKO of Levan Jomardashvili. He continued stepping up the level of opposition, adding the IBF East/West Europe cruiserweight title in February 2014 and the IBF Inter-Continental cruiserweight belt later that year. After moving his career to North America for a period, Gassiev returned to Russia and in December 2016 captured the IBF world cruiserweight title with a closely contested split-decision victory over Denis Lebedev in Moscow. He defended that world title in October 2017 with a third-round knockout of Krzysztof Włodarczyk in Newark. In February 2018 Gassiev added WBA recognition to his IBF strap when he stopped Yunier Dorticos via twelfth-round TKO in Sochi to hold unified cruiserweight honours. The high point of his cruiserweight run came when Gassiev challenged for undisputed status against Oleksandr Usyk in July 2018 in Moscow; Gassiev lost a 12-round unanimous decision as the undisputed titles were on the line. That defeat marked the end of his cruiserweight era and preceded a move up to heavyweight. At heavyweight Gassiev rebuilt with a series of regional and international trophies: he captured the vacant Ren TV heavyweight title in October 2020, the vacant WBA Asia heavyweight title in July 2021, and the vacant EBP (Eurasian Boxing Parliament) heavyweight title in August 2022. He added the vacant WBA Inter-Continental heavyweight title with a second-round KO of Mike Balogun in March 2023, but relinquished that belt after a close split-decision loss to Otto Wallin in September 2023. Gassiev returned to the win column with victories in 2024 and 2025, culminating in a sixth-round knockout of Kubrat Pulev on 12 December 2025 for the WBA (Regular) world heavyweight title. According to WBA documents, the organisation recorded Gassiev as WBA Regular champion after 12 December 2025 and later administratively upgraded him to primary/full WBA heavyweight champion on 1 July 2026; Gassiev retained that WBA world heavyweight title with a sixth-round TKO of Peter Kadiru on 11 July 2026 in Moscow. Gassiev’s record stands at 34 wins, 2 losses, 0 draws and 1 no-contest, with 27 stoppage wins, across 37 completed professional bouts. Active and holding WBA world heavyweight championship status per WBA materials, he remains a significant figure in the heavyweight landscape.