On Saturday night, in the final matchup of the inaugural World Boxing Super Series tournament, unified WBA/IBF cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev squared off against unified WBC/WBO cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk. This was a bout for cruiserweight supremacy, where the titles of all four major sanctioning bodies were on the line.The winner would produce an undisputed cruiserweight champion for the first time since Evander ‘Real Deal’ Holyfield reigned supreme during the late 80s.
Right out of the gate, Usyk was firing on all cylinders. Usyk was effectively firing off jabs from all distances, and he was utilizing efficient intelligent movement while throwing an awful lot of punches in the process. This strategy prevented Gassiev from ever establishing any real rhythm, as Usyk was in complete command of the range and tempo of the action. Usyk was also exhibiting stellar defense, frequently making Gassiev miss the mark. Usyk was brilliant in his efforts, and he made very few mistakes in a near perfect performance.
Gassiev was trying, and he had a few moments along the way, but at the end of the day it was a one-sided affair. Usyk was awarded a unanimous decision victory, with two judges scoring the bout 119-109 for Usyk, and the other scoring it a 120-108 shutout, also in favor of Usyk. With the victory, Usyk is now the undisputed cruiserweight world champion, and he is the first cruiserweight to simultaneously hold titles from all four major world sanctioning bodies (back in Holyfield’s day, there were only three major sanctioning world titles, as the WBO was viewed as a minor title at that time).
Exactly how good is Oleksandr Usyk?
This edition of Rummy’s Corner attempts to answer that question in two separate contexts – first, regarding how Usyk rates among today’s pound for pound boxing elites, and also with regards to how Usyk ranks in an historical sense within the archives of the relatively new cruiserweight weight class. This edition also provides a brief post fight recap of the match that took place where Usyk outclassed the formidable Gassiev. Please watch and enjoy the video!
