The former world cruiserweight champion of the World Boxing Association (WBA) and the International Boxing Federation (IBF), Murat Gassiev of Russia, indicates that he has the opportunity to fight on October 12 in Chicago, but says he won't be physically capable of making the date.

The main event of that card will feature Oleksandr Usyk making his heavyweight debut against Tyrone Spong.

Gassiev, who has been inactive since losing a twelve round decision last year to Usyk, was going to make his own heavyweight debut a few weeks ago against Joey Dawejko, but a shoulder injury forced him to withdraw from the contest.

At the moment the 25-year-old Gassiev has a record of 26 victories (19 by KO) and one defeat that came at the hands of Usyk.

He signed a promotional pact with Eddie Hearn of Matchroom, hoping to get key fights at the heavyweight limit - including bouts with Anthony Joshua and possibly a rematch with Usyk.

But he wants to be 100% recovered before starting his heavyweight run.

“It is unlikely that the fight will be in October, I’m still recovering, everything will depend on my body. Dawejko gave the go-ahead, agreed to fight. I also want the fight, although it’s not really important for me if it's one [opponent] or the other. The main thing for me - is to quickly recover and return to the ring," Gassiev said.

“Before the fight was scheduled with Dawejko, I injured the back surface of the shoulder. Perhaps this time I was injured due to the fact that I did not use the shoulder for a long time. I recovered for a long time after the operation, then got in shape, went to train, but the arm failed. If I would have continued to train, it would aggravate the injury."