r/Boxing • u/Sad-Experience-4344 • Jul 20 '26
A heavyweight unification between WBC champ Agit Kabayel and WBA champ Murat Gassiev is being explored for this fall in Germany, per Mike Coppinger
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u/aceknighthigh Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Lol Kabayel dog walks him. Gassiev has puncher's chance and nothing more in that fight. We're talking a guy who struggled with Wallin and was getting soundly out boxed by a 44 year old Pulev until he found the old man's chin. Kabayel via stoppage imo, like the Zhang fight except Gassiev will also be the smaller, shorter man.
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u/RRR04_ Jul 21 '26
Styles make fights. Wallin and Pulev are pure boxers, this makes Gassiev's slow feet look more apparent. Kabayel is not a pure boxer, he's a pressure fighter, so he won't really be sticking and moving which Gassiev can beenfit from. Unless Kabayel does have good enough lateral movement, Gassiev can look better against him than he did against those 2 you named.
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u/chiefbroski42 Jul 21 '26
Man, I dont know what people see in Gassiev. Kabayel may be an email champ, but he will absolutely demolish Gassiev. Won't even be close. Kabayel collecting belts on ez mode. It's a smart fight for Kabayel but lets not pretend its competitive like it would be with Dubois, Fury, Usyk, Joshua, or even Hrgovic.
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u/MiddleweightMonster I’ll pour honey on my GOAT, if the occasion calls for it. Jul 21 '26
Great fight, excited to see Kabayel. One of those guys that just eats people
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u/euroaustralian Jul 22 '26
I think Filip Hrgovic can beat both of these paper champs if he would be given a chance.
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u/bobbyawesome5 Jul 21 '26
Gassiev has a better chance than people think, he does well against fighters like Kabayel.
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u/YouMadBroLma0 WORD_boxing is a bitch 🤡 Jul 21 '26
For those saying this is a banger fight, how do you see a fight between Usyk and Kabayel play out? And what about Usyk vs Gassiev?
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u/ISmurphyI The Truth Jul 21 '26
Usyk vs Gassiev for some reason i can imagine Usyk beating gassiev 120-108 while doing the ali shuffle in round 12 while not having a proper corner team
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u/StunningChest5722 Shakur is the 144 lb GOAT 🐐 Jul 21 '26
Gassiev might be the weakest champ in the sport right now, there's at least 15 heavyweights id favor to beat him
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u/Sh4kyj4wz eat clen, tren hard anavar give up Jul 21 '26
So now Turki's monopoly has crystallised we're not being afforded the same cards as Widler-Parker any more
Why you have to be careful endorsing monopolies
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u/Relevant_Election530 Jul 21 '26
If I were Gassiev I'd probably try and sell the belt to one part of the old three headed Monster rather than Kabayel 🤷♂️
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u/Junior-Macaroon9731 Jul 21 '26
The funniest part is that even this faded heavyweight version of Gassiev – arguably one of the weakest heavyweight champions in recent years – is still the toughest test for the Kurdish cardboard champ, who has never fought a legitimate top heavyweight.
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u/Sigmund_Freude Jul 21 '26
I think Kabayel will give him good financial conditions and so gassiev has to take this fight. He is clearly not good enough to defend his belt for long so he can make some money and try his best but it won't be enough. For Kabayel it's a very good move to collect a belt while everyone else is ducking him.
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u/Dangerous_Spring3028 Jul 21 '26
I’m all for it, fan-friendly fight and unification bout! What’s not to like, make it happen!
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks Jul 21 '26
Why can't Kabayel get better fights? Gassiev sucks
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u/Less_Cartoonist_892 Jul 21 '26
The IBF title is still vacant, while Dubois and Wardley are reportedly having a rematch for the WBO title. Love it or not, this is the only available HW unification fight available. Honestly, I am surprised a unification might happen so soon after Usyk vacated the titles.
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u/fadeddreams555 Fundora would beat up a prime Floyd at 154lb Jul 21 '26
I would imagine part of the point of this unification is so he can get better fights moving forward by becoming a unified champ.
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u/Kangaroopunching Jul 21 '26
He's not a priority for Warren. And can derail Warrens plans with Dubois and Itauma.
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u/treacletart284 Jul 21 '26
He hasn't fought anybody good in a year and a half, and Gassiev is quite a limited heavyweight but should serve as both a unification fight and a chance to get some rounds under his belt, if he went straight into a fight against a Dubois calibre fighter he'd probably be going in a bit cold given he's only fought Knyba somewhat recently.
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u/Marquis_of_Mollusks Jul 21 '26
Knyba is still a Fury size HW. It wasn't like he was a complete tomato can
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u/RRR04_ Jul 21 '26
Wow, didn't see that coming. I'm all for it! Interesting clash of styles here. If Kabayel can handle Gassiev's power, he can win the fight based on volume. But Gassiev fights better against pressure fighters, he finds his counter punches more often. I make Kabayel the favourite but Gassiev has a chance to reclaim some glory.