"Will Usyk have the strength to handle heavyweights? He doesn't have a big punch"
Monday 25 May 2020 08:12, UK
Murat Gassiev is "as big a puncher as the best heavyweights" and wants revenge on Oleksandr Usyk, says his trainer Abel Sanchez.
Gassiev was IBF and WBA cruiserweight champion but his thunderous run was ended in the World Boxing Super Series final by Usyk in 2018 - both boxers have now joined the heavyweight division.
Asked if Gassiev is better-suited to the bigger division, Sanchez told Sky Sports: "Absolutely. He was killing himself to make weight for cruiserweight. That's not an excuse - Usyk was the better man on the night.
"We look forward to meeting Usyk at heavyweight."
Russia's Gassiev hasn't fought in two years but is still just 27 years old.
"I first started working with him when he was nearly 20 years old," Sanchez explained. "He was 192lbs back then.
"I saw his frame and his hands - he has tremendously big hands. I said: 'This young man will dominate the cruiserweight ranks then become a very good heavyweight'.
"It took a little longer to get to the heavyweights, but he will be good. I anticipated this when I first started working with him. His hands told me everything.
"He is as big a puncher as the best heavyweights.
"Like Evander Holyfield he has the speed of a cruiserweight. His speed and quickness will be the difference against heavyweights, the same as Oleksandr Usyk.
"But will Usyk have the strength to handle heavyweights? He doesn't have a big punch. In the heavyweight division you need to have something that keeps people back."
Sanchez said about Gassiev's return: "I would like to fight Adam Kownacki, Robert Helenius or Andy Ruiz Jr. But he hasn't fought in two years so I would like a tune-up fight first."
Usyk won his heavyweight debut against Chazz Witherspoon and will next take on Derek Chisora. The former undisputed cruiserweight champion is the mandatory challenger to Anthony Joshua's WBO heavyweight title.
