Yunier Dorticos and Murat Gassiev meet on Saturday, Feb. 3 to complete the semifinal round of the cruiserweight World Boxing Super Series.
Cruiserweights never get the love or attention of the boxing world. The division has acted as a purgatory for boxers too small for the heavyweight division, but the World Boxing Super Series showcases the abundance of talent there.
In the final semifinal bout of the competition, WBA cruiserweight champion Yunier Dorticos faces IBF cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev. Neither boxer is a household name, but they should be.
This fight has the potential to be a fight of the year candidate. Gassiev has good knockout power, and Dorticos is one of the best power-punchers in all of boxing. On paper, this fight is shaping up to be an active fight ending in a knockout.
Dorticos is 22-0 with 21 KOs. In his last fight, he knocked out Dmitry Kudryashov in the second round with a piledriving right hand. He’s riding a four-fight knockout streak.
Gassiev is 25-0 with 18 KOs. He’s also coming off a knockout victory. He stopped Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in the third with a vicious left hook to the body.
Physically, both boxers are evenly matched. Both are 6-foot-3, but Dorticos has a four-inch reach advantage. He will need to utilize it to keep Gassiev away from his body.
When boxers are so evenly matched, the edge usually goes to the better boxer. Dorticos has much more amateur experience than Gassiev. He had a respectable amateur career on the Cuban national team.
Gassiev lacks amateur experience. He had fewer than 30 amateur bouts before turning professional at the age of 17. Based on amateur experience, Dorticos should be the better boxer, but Gassiev demonstrates better footwork and movement than Dorticos.
Dorticos has a tendency to plod around the ring flatfooted. He lacks head movement and covers his head in a high guard as a means of defense.
However, Dorticos has the edge in power and boxing IQ over Gassiev. He may not be as agile as Gassiev, but he intelligently employs counter-punches at necessary intervals. He doesn’t waste punches and tends to be very accurate.
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This should be a war between two game warriors. Gassiev is the betting favorite — but just barely. The winner will go on to fight Oleksandr Usyk for the right to be called the undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world.
The winner of this match might prove to be the best cruiserweight in the world.
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