Oleksandr Usyk vs Murat Gassiev

Oleksandr Usyk gave Murat Gassiev a comprehensive boxing lesson at Moscow’s Olimpiyskiy Sports Complex on July 21, 2018, winning a unanimous 12-round decision to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion of the world. Before a capacity crowd reported at 24,000, the Ukrainian added Gassiev’s WBA and IBF championships to the WBC and WBO titles he already held, while also claiming the vacant Ring championship and the Muhammad Ali Trophy as winner of the inaugural World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament. Referee Celestino Ruiz had little cause to intervene during a cleanly fought contest in which there were no knockdowns and scarcely any prolonged exchanges. The official margins—120–108 for Robin Taylor and 119–109 for Philippe Verbeke and Mauro Di Fiore—properly reflected Usyk’s command.

The match had been regarded beforehand as a close contest between contrasting unbeaten champions. Usyk, 31, entered with 14 victories from as many professional bouts and weighed 198 pounds. The 24-year-old Gassiev, also 198 pounds, had won 26 contests and was considered the heavier puncher, having stopped both Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and Yuniel Dorticos during the tournament. Usyk had reached the final by defeating Marco Huck and then taking a hard majority decision from Mairis Briedis in Riga. The expectation was that Gassiev would attempt to close the distance, work to the body and compel the southpaw to stand his ground. Instead, Usyk’s feet, jab and rate of punching prevented the Russian from establishing the required position almost from the opening bell.

Usyk began by circling to his right and presenting Gassiev with a constantly changing target. His lead right hand was rarely thrown as a single heavy blow. He used it to measure, distract and interrupt, sometimes doubling it and sometimes following with the straight left before moving away at an angle. Gassiev advanced behind a high guard, but his pursuit was cautious and largely conducted in straight lines. He was obliged to reset each time Usyk stepped beyond his lead foot or turned him in the centre of the ring. The first round established the pattern and the second strengthened it. Gassiev landed several firm left hooks to the body during the second, temporarily forcing Usyk backwards, but he could not follow them with sustained work. Usyk answered with quick clusters to the head and chest, scoring while Gassiev was still setting himself to punch. Gassiev’s most threatening moments came when Usyk paused after completing a combination, yet the Russian was seldom close enough to take advantage.

The third round was again governed by Usyk’s jab and lateral movement. Gassiev grazed him with a counter left hook and continued to look for the right hand, but much of his work struck Usyk’s arms or passed behind the moving target. Usyk did not remain in front of him after punching. He would deliver three or four comparatively light blows, shift his head from the centre line and depart before Gassiev could bring his feet into range. The champion from Russia had his clearest success near the end of the fourth round. After being outscored for most of the session, Gassiev drove a powerful right hand onto Usyk’s chin in the closing seconds. Usyk was visibly checked by the blow and immediately held until the bell. Gassiev returned to his corner encouraged, but the punch proved an isolated success rather than the beginning of a recovery.

From the fifth round onwards, Usyk became increasingly secure. He shortened the space when he wished to attack and widened it before Gassiev could reply. Straight left hands passed between Gassiev’s gloves, while hooks were sent around the sides of the Russian’s guard whenever he leaned too heavily over his front leg. Usyk also introduced uppercuts through the centre and struck the body when Gassiev attempted to answer downstairs. The punches were not always delivered with full force, but their variety and frequency kept Gassiev occupied defensively. In the sixth, Usyk boxed for long stretches at a pace his opponent could not match, finishing combinations with a turn that left Gassiev facing the wrong direction. The seventh followed in much the same fashion. Gassiev continued to press and remained physically strong, but his attacks too often consisted of a single attempted heavy blow. Usyk’s attacks came in numbers and from changing positions.

Gassiev tried to increase his pressure in the eighth, walking forward with greater urgency and attempting to trap Usyk near the ropes. Usyk refused to be held there. He either pivoted away before Gassiev had squared him or tied him up briefly and returned to open ground. By the end of the round, Gassiev’s frustration was apparent; he shook his head and shrugged as he returned to his corner. His face was reddening under the steady accumulation of jabs and straight lefts, although he was never seriously hurt. The ninth and tenth rounds showed the difference between mere forward movement and effective pressure. Gassiev occupied the advancing position, but Usyk controlled when and where the exchanges occurred. Even when the Ukrainian stood momentarily within punching distance, his hands were first. He would strike, slip to one side and begin another combination before Gassiev had completed his attempted counter.

There was no attempt by Usyk to protect his advantage during the championship rounds. He raised his work rate in the eleventh, directing the jab between Gassiev’s gloves and following with straight lefts, hooks and short uppercuts. Gassiev remained determined and continued to seek the body, but by then, he was following rather than cutting off the ring. His heavier punches lacked the preparation required to land against a man who was moving both before and after his own attacks. Usyk was still fresh enough in the final round to produce his busiest session of the contest. He threw 117 punches and landed 47, repeatedly striking Gassiev with combinations as the Russian pressed forward in search of the blow that might alter the result. No such opening appeared. Usyk finished on the attack, not recklessly, but with the same balance and control he had shown at the start.

The statistics confirmed the evidence of the contest. Usyk landed 252 of 939 punches, an average of 21 landed from 78 thrown in each round. Gassiev connected with 91 of 313, averaging fewer than eight successful punches per round. Usyk landed 99 jabs; Gassiev only nine. The Russian landed several solid blows to the body and never ceased trying, but his strength and punching power were largely rendered ineffective by his inability to bring Usyk into a settled position. Gassiev accepted the decision without complaint and acknowledged that he had met the best opponent of his career. Usyk, in his fifteenth professional contest, had travelled into his opponent’s country and won every round on one card and eleven of twelve on the other two. It was not a victory achieved through one decisive blow or a sudden collapse. It was built minute by minute through superior movement, judgment of distance, punch selection and stamina, until a contest expected to be evenly balanced had become entirely one-sided.