Talks are likely to soon begin for a clash between Ring No. 9 Gassiev and No. 2 Kabayel, who holds the WBC title and has significant drawing power in his native Germany.
Gassiev has told The Ring he would happily go behind enemy lines for the chance to become unified heavyweight champion. “For me it doesn’t matter where I fight,” said Gassiev (34-2, 27 KOs). “Germany, neutral territory or the moon. It doesn’t matter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aezYoUy5iMo “I never choose the place. I will go to Germany. I am a fighter and I don’t care where I fight.” Gassiev’s last fight took him back to Russia for the first time in five years as he stopped Peter Kadiru at Moscow’s VTB Arena in the first defense of his world title on July 11. “I was happy to fight in Moscow because it meant my mum could come,” he said. “It was not hard for her, only a two-hour flight, very easy. “It’s not the same flying to the U.S. or something like that because she is not young anymore. It was nice to have her there, but really, for a fight you need only you, your coach, your opponent, a referee and three judges. That’s it.” Gassiev and Kabayel have been elevated to full world champions following Oleksandr Usyk’s surprising decisions to vacate his three remaining sanctioning body titles. Gassiev had been the WBA’s ‘“regular” champion while Kabayel held the WBC’s interim title. The IBF, meanwhile, remains vacant.
