Report: WBSS Cruiserweight Finals To Take Place On July 21 In Russia
After many weeks of uncertainty, it appears that the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight finals will have a date and venue.
The finals, currently scheduled to have Oleksandr Usyk and Murat Gassiev face each other for the undisputed WBA, WBO, IBF and WBC titles, will take place in Moscow, Russia on July 21, according to Ring Magazine.
The new date of the fight would make it more than two months after the original date of the fight. The bout, which would have finished the cruiserweight portion of the first season of the WBSS, was going to happen on May 11 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but Usyk suffered an elbow injury and the fight was postponed.
At the time of the postponement, Russia made an effort to have the finals take place in Moscow as Gassiev is from Russia. Gassiev entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed, defeating Krzysztof Wlodarczyk last year in the quarterfinals and then followed it up with a knockout win over Yunier Dorticos in the semifinals earlier this year. Gassiev currently holds the WBA and IBF cruiserweight titles.
Usyk came into the tournament as the top boxer and opened up the quarterfinals with a 10th-round stoppage win over former world champion Marco Huck. In the semifinals, Usyk unified the WBO and WBC titles with his toughest fight to date, a majority decision win over Mairis Briedis.
The cruiserweight finals has not been formally announced, but it would end one-half of the first season of the World Boxing Super Series. The other half, the 168-pound tournament, does not have a date or venue as WBA champion George Groves had surgery, which postponed the original date of the bout which was June 2. Groves was recently cleared to compete in the finals.
