By Yuri Tarantin, photos by Ruslan Kolesnikov

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, who handles IBF/WBA cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev, is confident his boxer will overcome his mandatory defense against dangerous unbeaten challenger Murat Gassiev.

The fight takes place this coming Saturday night at the Khodynka Ice Palace in Moscow.

In preparation for the fight, Roach lined up several tough sparring partners - including Ukrainian Iago Kiladze, American heavyweight Trey Lippe-Morrison and Nigerian cruiserweight Lateef Kayode, according to Lebedev's manager Vadim Kornilov.

Kornilov said the "the preparation which took place was the same as it always was - excellent, and there were no abnormalities."

Gassiev is advised by Al Haymon and fights under the Premier Boxing Champions banner. Lebedev's promoter is the leading man in Russia, Andrey Ryabinsky, of World of Boxing.

Lebedev vs. Gassiev creates a classic duel between trainers. Lebedev is handled by Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach, and Gassiev is trained by Abel Sanchez, who is currently best known as the head coach for middleweight king Gennady Golovkin.

Roach respects the work of Sanchez, but he doesn't believe that it will be enough to win.

"Gassiev has a very good trainer and  we expect a tough fight. Lebedev is ready. The training camp took place at the right time, and I am confident that we will leave the ring with these two belts. I definitely think we'll win. I would not go into a fight where I wasn't sure if my guy could win," Roach said.

Earlier this year, Lebedev pulled off one of his most impressive victories with a two round destruction of Victor Emilio Ramirez to unify the WBA/IBF world titles before a frenzied crowd in Moscow, Russia.

The victory raised the 36-year-old's record to 29 wins (22 by knockout) and two defeats. Gassiev is one of Russia's most promising up and coming boxers. In his last fight, he had very scary knockout of Jordan Shimmell. The 22-year-old Gassiev, who is promoted by Warriors Boxing in the United States, has a record of 23 wins (17 by KO) and no losses.

Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing.ru