Murat Gassiev elevated to full WBA heavyweight champion

Murat Gassiev is now the full WBA heavyweight champion after Oleksandr Usyk vacated his remaining belts, the IBA announced Thursday on social media.

The promotion comes less than seven months after Gassiev stopped 44-year-old Kubrat Pulev with a fifth-round hook in Dubai to claim the secondary WBA title. Gassiev had been outboxed for the first four frames before landing the decisive shot that flattened Pulev and made him a two-division champion.

Joyce emerges as replacement for Yoka on July 11 card

Hours after the upgrade, Gassiev lost his scheduled opponent for July 11 when Tony Yoka pulled out with a back injury. According to ESPN and The Ring, Joe Joyce is the frontrunner to step in. Joyce is already booked to fight Artem Suslenkov on the same IBA card, making him the easiest swap, though he carries a rough recent ledger: four losses in his past five fights and two straight defeats.

Gassiev's heavyweight run has been uneven since his 2018 loss to Usyk in the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight final. He dropped a lackluster decision to Otto Wallin in 2023 before consecutive wins over Ken Ljungquist and Jeremiah Milton set up the Pulev fight.

The Russian is 33-2 with 26 knockouts. His first defense as the recognized WBA heavyweight champion goes forward July 11, opponent to be confirmed.

Reported via:

• Bad Left Hook — Murat Gassiev loses opponent, gets promotion to full WBA champion