Usyk and Gassiev to compete for Ring Magazine Belt in WBSS final
On May 11th in Saudi Arabia when Oleksandr Usyk and Murat Gassiev square off for the finals of the World Boxing Super Series tournament, the Ring Magazine Cruiserweight weight title will be on the line. The belt has been vacant for three and a half years now.
The last Ring cruiserweight champion was Yoan Pablo Hernandez when he won the vacant belt by defeating Steve Cunningham. He last defended the title in August of 2014 when he beat Firat Arslan. Hernandez was considered the champion until he officially announced his retirement in September 2015. The title has remained vacant since that time.
Under Ring Magazine guidelines a vacant title fight can be sanctioned when the number one ranked Ring cruiserweight faces the number two. Usyk and Gassiev are numbers 1 & 2 respectfully.
The fight will also be for all four major titles as well. The winner will mark the second undisputed champion crowned in less than 10 months after a period of more than a decade without the sport seeing one.
This fight is considered by most pundits to be a true 50/50 fight. Usyk and Gassiev were the number one and two seeds in the WBSS tournament and progressed through the bracket by beating the highest number seed available in the semi-final round.
By: Chris Henderson
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