left no chance for Murat Gassiev. If in the first few rounds the Russian was on an equal footing, then further on he had no chance of success.

This is reported by the media.

The only hope was for a lucky punch, but Alexander did everything to prevent his opponent from throwing even one powerful blow.

Usik cut corners very competently, went behind Gassiev's front leg, and also constantly moved. Against the backdrop of Ukrainskaya, Murat looked standing: nothing worked for him in attack, so Usik kept throwing out his punches.

There was no intrigue in the last rounds: Alexander calmly slowed down the pace, but still remained much faster than his opponent, thanks to which he easily brought the matter to victory.

A crushing victory on points - 120:110, 119:109 and 119:109 Alexander Usik became the absolute world heavyweight champion, beating Murat Gassiev in Moscow.

Analysis of the battle

Anatoly Lomachenko - the secret of success

As Usik himself said, in the last fights he “stood still.” Parting with coach Sergei Vatamanyuk seemed like an obvious decision, but it still seemed strange that Alexander decided to leave his coach before an important fight in his career.

But, as it turned out before the start of the fight, Usik had a backup plan. Anatoly Lomachenko, the father and coach of Vasily Lomachenko, found himself in the Ukrainian’s corner. This person probably won the fight. Usyk spent a wonderful 12 rounds, only occasionally allowing his opponent to throw some punches.

There hasn’t been such a powerful performance from the Ukrainian for a long time: he mocked his opponent. Footwork, constant series, speed - all this was really powerful. Alexander Usik introduced himself as heavyweight Vasily Lomachenko in the finals. It is not surprising that all this happened at the moment when Anatoly Lomachenko found himself in the Ukrainian’s corner.

Is Gassiev a bag? In this fight "yes"

Lucky punch, of course, has not been canceled, but betting on it cannot be a strategy in the final of the World Boxing Super Series. This sounds funny.

Oleksandr Usyk is the best in the heavyweight division

Usik turned professional with specific purpose: Unify the belts and become the best in history. It took Alexander 15 fights to turn his goal into reality. The Ukrainian collected all the heavyweight belts, became the absolute champion and wrote his name in history.

What's next for him? Most likely a transition to heavyweight. Perhaps a rematch against Mairis Briedis would be interesting. Does it make sense to box Gassievim again? Probably not. This fight answered all the questions.

About the results of the main battle of this year.

It's hot, it's hot!

As soon as it became clear that the organizers of the final of the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) managed to lure Usik and his team to Moscow, there were no particular doubts about the venue - not every metropolitan arena is capable of hosting an event of this scale. Almost immediately it was announced that the fight would take place at the Olimpiysky.

A few hours before the start of the main event of the evening, the approaches to the sports complex were crowded. Girls in spectacular evening dresses interspersed with men in hats. Flags of North Ossetia were everywhere (which is understandable, since Gassiev is a native of Vladikavkaz), Russian tricolors were a little less common. From time to time, from somewhere on the side, enthusiasts tried to charge: “Only Gassiev, only victory!” However, the chants did not evoke a response from the motley crowd. Gradually and, it would seem, reluctantly, fans came inside.

It soon became clear why the audience was in no hurry to take their seats. It was very hot inside the Olympic. And this is not a figure of speech. The air temperature was approaching 30 degrees (or maybe even higher, there was nothing to measure). The sports complex was built in 1980, and it seems that nothing has been done to its ventilation since then. Yes, the Olympic Stadium seats 35 thousand spectators and remains the largest indoor stadium in Europe, but the conditions for watching competitions in the heat inside it are simply unbearable. And the boxers themselves are hardly comfortable in such an environment.

At the same time, to justify the organizers, it can be said that they, in fact, had no choice. There is simply no indoor stadium of similar capacity in Moscow: Megasport and VTB Ice Palace accommodate 13-14 thousand each. The (relatively) new football and CSKA stadiums are not equipped with a roof. This is the 90,000th Wembley in Britain. And we have... And we have “Olympic”. Frankly speaking, I’m a little worried about the first UFC tournament in Moscow, which will take place here in the fall. Let's hope that by September the heat will subside and Dana White and his comrades will be happy with the arena.

Is victory a victory?

While fans were gathering outside the stadium, the main card fights were already in full swing inside. In the first fight, the relationship was sorted out between Russian Fedor Chudinov, who holds the WBA International champion belt in super middleweight, and little-known Frenchman Najib Mohammedi. The boxers went the entire distance, during which Chudinov’s opponent looked brighter and hit more often and more accurately. It would seem that here he is, the new champion, but the judges decided otherwise: 115:113, 116:112,111:118 in favor of Chudinov. The hall began to roar with dissatisfaction. For the first time I had to see how a domestic boxer was booed in his homeland. The fans, on the contrary, greeted Mohammedi with applause. An ambiguous (to put it mildly) decision that does not add whist to either Russian boxing in general or Fedor Chudinov in particular.

“I’m not happy with my victory, but it’s a victory. I was a little better at the end, but not everything worked out. I’m not very happy with the way I performed,” Chudinov noted in his comments after the fight. “Not everything worked out” - that’s putting it mildly, Fedor.

Photo: Vladimir Astapkovich / RIA Novosti

The next women entered the ring were Norwegian champion Cecilia Breikhus and Russian Inna Sagaidakovskaya. Both were undefeated, with the only difference being that the first fought 34 fights, and the second only 7. Before the fight, many words and promises were made, especially from the hostess of the ring. Sagaidakovskaya intended to knock out her 36-year-old opponent, but in reality it turned out differently. The experienced Breikhus held the advantage almost the entire time, losing it for a couple of rounds in the middle of the fight. But at the end she turned on and in the final two minutes almost knocked out the Russian woman. This time there were no surprises - Breikhus won by unanimous decision.

Next, the Latvian Mairis Briedis fought his fight, who came to Moscow primarily to provide insurance for the organizers - he was assigned the role of an official reserve in case Gassiev or Usik were unable to enter the ring. But Briedis could have boxed against the Russian in the final without any “buts” and “ifs,” but at the end of January he lost to Usik in the semi-finals. Now he had to settle for the Frenchman Brandon Deslauriers. Despite the fact that Briedis was the undisputed favorite, he failed to show outstanding boxing. Deslauriers sat on the defensive for all 10 rounds, and sometimes even snapped. Result: Briedis wins by unanimous decision.

Brutal Mustache

Finally, it was time for the main fight of the evening. Few people dared to predict the winner of the confrontation. The bookmakers' odds for the success of Gassiev and Usik were almost identical. The only thing the experts agreed on was that the fight would probably last all 12 rounds. In the event of a judge's decision, they believed more in the victory of the Ukrainian; a knockout was called a chance for the Russian.

Gassiev was the first to enter the ring. Murat appeared in the hall to the song “Ossetian Heart”, and along the way he talked with his coach Abel Sanchez with a smile. Usik also looked quite relaxed. Both stopped in front of the ring and posed for a TV picture in a cloud of smoke. To be fair, the shots came out spectacular. It’s a pity that the temperature in the hall was not conveyed.

The first round began with reconnaissance. Usik does not like to go forward, but here he was forced to take the initiative into his own hands, Gassiev was too passive. The opponents exchanged several hits on defense and went to the corners. In the Ukrainian’s corner, by the way, in addition to cutman Russ Anber, there was Anatoly Lomachenko, the father of another Ukrainian champion and an experienced coach.

At the beginning of the second round, Gassiev succeeded in his signature move - a side kick to the liver. It seemed that Usik even staggered a little, but the Russian did not develop his success, and the boxers completed the three-minute period at a calm pace. In the next segment, the Russian continued to target his opponent’s liver, but Usik wisely kept his distance, using his advantage in arm span and mobility. Every time he left the line of fire and fired jabs at the pressing Gassiev.

The fourth round was dictated by Usik exactly until the last seconds. Then Gassiev landed another powerful kick, this time to the head. The Ukrainian competently entered the clinch and waited for the gong. It was noticeable that the Russian was investing in every blow, trying to decide the outcome of the fight with a single hit. But the opponent was faster every time.

Photo: Vladimir Astapkovich / RIA Novosti

Usik constantly moved, disrupting the direction of Gassiev’s attacks. The sixth round ended under the dictation of the Ukrainian. He did not inflict serious damage on his opponent, but with his active actions he did not allow him to get into rhythm. The seventh three-minute period went in the same vein, and in the eighth, Alexander began to invest in punches in order to restrain his opponent. I was amazed by his excellent functional readiness - he looked very fresh for the eighth round.

In the ninth round, Usik outnumbered Gassiev three times in the number of strikes. The Ukrainian worked according to the principle “the best defense is attack.” The barrage of his blows did not allow Murat to properly aim at the target.

Time passed, but 31-year-old Usik still did not get tired. The Ukrainian maintained the highest pace in the championship rounds. He executed his battle plan perfectly, making the most of his advantages. Gassiev turned out to be unprepared for such a mobile opponent and was unable to rebuild his tactics during the fight.

At the end of the 12th round, Usyk continued to flutter. And he even showed off a little, evading Gassiev’s sweeping sledgehammers a couple of times, thrown at random in the last seconds. After the gong, the rivals warmly greeted each other and walked around the ring, which had recently been a battlefield, hugging each other.

Usik deservedly won by unanimous decision (120:108, 119:109, 119:109) and unified the belts according to the versions of the four largest boxing organizations, becoming the absolute world champion. In addition, he became the owner of the name trophy and the first ever winner of the WBSS tournament.

After the fight, Alexander admitted that he was going to move up to heavyweight, and Murat Gassiev promised to come back stronger. He suffered the first defeat in his career from a worthy opponent who had the best fight of his career. The Russian will have many more fights ahead and, hopefully, more successful ones than this one.

Saturday evening in Moscow was a great success; despite all the skepticism of numerous experts, the Olimpiysky hall was packed to capacity. Before the fight, opinions were expressed that at the height of the summer holidays, immediately after the World Cup, it would be difficult to gather spectators in such a large arena as the Olympic Stadium, but the critics were put to shame. All tickets were sold out, and the atmosphere in the arena matched the best stadiums in America.

In some ways, the excitement around the fight was reminiscent of October 2013, when a heavyweight fight took place in Moscow in a similar audience: Alexander Povetkin vs. Vladimir Klitschko. The liberal public rebelled; the general sponsor of that tournament was a powerful Russian oil company, and its president personally sat in the VIP area, observing the outcome of the meeting. To our “defenders of freedom of speech” all this seemed to be a glorification of Moscow’s imperial policy. In just a month, Euromaidan will begin, and life will never be the same...

This time, many were wondering how the Moscow public would greet the Ukrainian boxer Alexander Usik. How many people even know what kind of person he is, born, raised and baptized in Crimea? All his youth he dreamed of becoming a football player, but due to lack of money in the family he could not play for the Simferopol Tavria, he had to go to boxing... To objectively assess his personality, you need to know what Alexander Usik did today in Ukraine. Every Russian who is interested in his fate must evaluate this correctly:

1. He never spoke out for the 4 years of conflict in eastern Ukraine against Russia.
2. He constantly emphasizes that Russians and Ukrainians are brothers and fellow believers.
3. He considers the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church his own, not recognizing any schismatics.
4. He repeatedly refused to answer Ukrainian journalists’ question “Whose Crimea?”
5. He celebrates all Orthodox holidays and posts images of Russian warriors and princes.

At least this is enough to respect him, understanding how hostile and unhealthy the atmosphere is in Ukrainian society, given the boxer’s civic position.

The hall froze, our Ossetian Murat Gassiev was the first to appear under a song in which the key verse sounds like this: “An Ossetian heart beats in my chest.” Murat was happy and focused; he was greeted by a sea of ​​hands. The organizers set up the spotlights well; in their light, the audience could see the heroes in 3D visualization, which were shown by projectors above the ring. Then Usik appeared in the arena, walking to a Ukrainian song and smiling once when, passing by one of the fans, he saw the Crimean flag in his hands.

Again, many parallels can be drawn between the fight between Povetkin and Klitschko: it was similar not only from the point of view of the picture, but also emotionally. The public, in turn, for obvious reasons, rooted more for Gassiev, but up to a certain point. Alexander crossed himself before each round, and at the end of the fight he bowed in front of each stand, as if saying: “Thank you for the evening.” And the Muscovites appreciated it; gradually the whistling faded away. Moscow accepted Usik.

At the same time, it is unknown what feelings all these brethren in Ukraine experienced during the performance of the Independence anthem in the center of Moscow, who hounded Usik for going to fight in the capital of our Motherland. They probably quickly changed their shoes in the air and started showering compliments on Alexander at every corner. But given the almost fraternal attitude of the athletes towards each other, it is unlikely that they will be able to drag Usik into political squabbles in the interests of the “war party”. This is exactly what Vladimir Klitschko did in 2013, boldly leaving politics aside. Where was this integrity a little later?

The 12-round fight itself took place entirely under the dictation of Alexander Usik, as we expected in our announcement of this event: Usik will dance in the ring and overwhelm with his jabs, and Gassiev will try to play for strength and try to hit his counterpart well once and thus win the title.

Murat practically didn’t succeed, and not because he did anything wrong, but Usik was too good that evening. For all 12 rounds, he danced around the ring, constantly dodging attempts to strike him. Alexander was magnificent and deservedly won. To paraphrase one of the theses in the previous article on this topic, we can state the following: Cossack prowess defeated Ossetian steel.

The icing on the cake for all the inattentive is the T-shirt that Alexander put on immediately after the end of the fight: it depicted the monk Peresvet moving towards the Tatar fighter Chelubey from the composition “Battle of Kulikovo”.

And of course, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko could not ignore such an event. In their social networks he stated that the Ukrainian anthem and flag in the center of Moscow are a symbol of their struggle and the approach of their victory.

One question remains, as in the old Soviet film: “Uncle Petya, are you a fool?”