Murat Gassiev: Warrior’s Profile
As if the summer of 2018 hasn’t been hot enough, two of the best Cruiserweights on the planet are set to light Moscow up once again less than a week after the FIFA World Cup finals.
Murat Gassiev
Age: 24
Fighting out of: Big Bear, CA
Born in: Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, Russia
Record: 26–0–0 (19 KOs)
Achievements: Current IBF & WBA Super World Cruiserweight Champion
Those who have followed Olympic wrestling over the past few decades know of “Kavkaz”, a hidden mountain region on Russia’s southwest border famous for producing a number of dominant Olympic and World Champions in the world of freestyle wrestling. With the fall of communism, athletes from Kavkaz emerged and quickly reestablished dominance on the world scene. The Kavkaz fighters particularly invaded the world of fighting sports, mainly MMA, bringing attention to their tiny mountain region. Now, fighting fans all around the world wait for another exciting talent to emerge from their mountain factory.
Murat Gassiev was born on October 12th, 1993 in Vladikavkaz, North Ossertia. When he was 13 years old, his father Georgiy passed leaving the family in a difficult financial situation. Murat’s mother took 3 jobs to feed her family. Soon after, Murat took a part-time job at a construction site to assist in supporting the family.
Growing up, Murat practiced judo and played football before trying his hand at boxing. In 2007, Gassiev would lace up a pair of boxing gloves for the first time. A famous trainer from South Ossertia, Vitaly Slanov, saw the raw talent and made an offer. He was willing to seriously invest in Gassiev’s boxing future. Gassiev would say, “I knew I had finally found it” after he had put on a pair of gloves for the first time.
In 2010, Murat left home to live and train in Chelyabinsk — a city known for it’s strong boxing gyms. He would make his professional debut in September of 2011, just a few days before he turned 18. In just three years, Murat would move to America, Big Bear specifically, to train under renowned trainer Abel Sanchez.
In 2015, Murat Gassiev really started to emerge as not just another talent from a region famous for producing great athletes, but as a fighter with an incredible upside in America. Opponent after opponent was brutally knocked out and in May of 2016, he’d get the biggest opportunity of his career on Fox Sports 1. He’d face Jordan Shimmell and make a gif out of him with a Knockout of the Century candidate. Gassiev announced himself to the boxing world and with his youth, seemed poised for domination and explosive Michael Bay-like performances.
In December of 2016, Murat Gassiev went home to Russia to fight Denis Lebedev in the heart of the capital. And it did feel like home. Thousands of energetic and excited Ossetian fans came to support their hero. In a tough and close battle, Murat Gassiev took a decision to claim his first world championship, dethroning a long reigning champion.
Only a couple of years have passed and Gassiev now holds two World Titles and stands on the verge of becoming the Undisputed World Champion at just 24 years-old. He is back again in his home country, for one of the biggest boxing shows ever held in Russia with the thousands and thousands of Ossetian fans cheering and rooting for him. So much for a regular boy from Ossetia, never destined to anything significant.
Murat Gassiev and Oleksandr Usyk have lived different lives, they taken on different roads and their routes could’ve never crossed, but here they are. Two of the most exciting, undefeated warriors are fighting each other to answer the ultimate answer one seeks in his journey through boxing: to prove to themselves and the world of professional boxing what they’re made of. Both descendants of warrior tribes, both fearless warriors inside the ring, and two of the nicest and humblest people outside it — both will be in Moscow on July 26th to decide once and for all who is the best in the world.
