By Ryan Burton
BoxingScene.com caught up with world class trainer Abel Sanchez over the weekend to get his thoughts on some of his fighters up coming fights.
WBA/IBF cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev (26-0) is scheduled to face Oleksandr Usyk (14-0) in the finals of the World Boxing Super Series on May 11th in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Usyk's WBC and WBO belts will also be on the line and the winner will become the undisputed champion of the cruiserweight division.
The date however is in flux and may change but Sanchez said that he is preparing Gassiev as if the fight will still happen on that date.
"For me it is still the 11th of May. That is what we are preparing for. He has been in camp now for two weeks," said Sanchez.
"It is a great fight. The two best cruiserweights in the world and not only that - it is a great boxer against a puncher that is going to come at him. It is a Hagler-Leonard kind of fight."
Usyk had the toughest fight of his career in his last fight when he won a majority decision over Mairis Briedis in Riga in the WBSS semi-finals. Usky didn't use as much movement as he usually does in that fight but Sanchez doesn't believe that will happen again when he steps in the ring against Gassiev.
"I don't think Breidis presented a danger so he fought him in a certain way. That is not the way I have seen Usyk fight. I have seen Usyk fight as a boxer more, as a mover and at a long range with his nice long arms. If he fights us the way he fought Breidis it is going to be a short night. I don't think he is going to fight us that way though," Sanchez told BoxingScene.com.
2023-10-20 17:13:19
