By Alexey Sukachev

An old Russian proverb says that there no prophets in your own homeland. BoxingScene’s Cliff Rold was exactly that type of prophet who had foreseen in his presumably bold prediction on the eve of one of the Russia’s biggest fights that a hungry challenger will dethrone an old king, predating him in his own den.

Not ending with a knockout does not mean anything. In fact, it was that type of dominant performance when a stoppage can only diminish greatness of a single accomplishment.

Murat Gassiev of Vladikavkaz, Northern Ossetia, was the challenger to the champion in Denis Lebedev. Fourteen years his junior, Gassiev fought a beautiful fight, giving positive answers to all those questions asked of his power, chin, and most importantly his consistency at the top level of the cruiserweight division.

From an unproven talent Gassiev transcended to arguably the best (or one of two best) fighter of his weight class. He did that in just one night but left a long-lasting perception of his showing. Forget a split decision – Polish judge Pawel Kardynyi obviously had it wrong – as Gassiev’s performance was excellent and surely superb to that of his famed opponent.

In Russia, the pre-fight perception was different. Having fought under the radar – mostly in Chelyabinsk and Vladikavkaz (not the biggest centers of boxing in Russia), and being led by the unconventional Ural Boxing promotional group (which also promotes lightweight contender Denis Shafikov and co-promotes welterweight prodigy Konstantin Ponomarev) Gassiev was practically unknown for casual fight fans. By no way was he a favorite, except in his native land and numerous Ossetian fans that were well presented at the Megasport arena in Moscow, Russia.

The most recent part of Murat’s career took place in the States but it wasn’t telling as well. His hardest fight to date prior to the Lebedev fight – came against Isiah Thomas and it was cut short and declared a No Contest. The potential barnburner versus Yunier Dorticos had fallen apart, while a frightening knockout of Jordan Schimmel was spectacular but didn’t tell us much about Gassiev’s punching power at the very top level.

On the other hand, Gassiev and his handlers, specifically Alexey Vasiliev of Ural Boxing and famed trainer Abel Sanchez, were quite optimistic about his prospects. Sanchez went as far as to compare the Ossetian newest hero with his former pupil Terry Norris.

Saturday night revealed those opinions weren’t as optimistic as they were realistic.

IBF #2 Gassiev started to show his dominance from the opening round. As was predicted by local experts, he established firm control of the ring, moving forward to his opponent. Lebedev, a semi-defending champion as his WBA belt was not at stake, expectantly turned on his counter-punching mode.

What was wrong with the 37-year old, who was defending his red belt for the first time since a scintillating win over Victor Ramirez this May? It looked like his tactics weren’t perfect from the beginning. Denis chose to use his feet and (to a lesser extent) body movement to avoid Gassiev’s best punches. Maybe it would have been wiser to clinch against the Ossetian on his way in. Anyway, Lebedev was there to hit, and, unfortunately for him, he was often tagged by the challenger.

Gassiev set up his punches with a busy left jab. In the first round, he opened up his countryman’s defense with one of these jabs, then landed a hard right hand to slightly shake Lebedev up.

Denis was busier in the second round and took it on his hayemakers. However, his punches weren’t as felt by Gassiev as Gassiev’s punches were felt by Lebedev.

Then a fight took an obvious turn in the challenger’s favour. Lebedev was indeed busy but his punches were mostly blocked by Gassiev or didn’t hit him cleanly. Lebedev’s jab was more of a probe, or a push to control the distance rather than to stop the challenger. Gassiev on the other hand, was wise not to lean too close to Lebedev, allowing for the most effective use of his wingspan.

In round five, the Ossetian added a new dimension to his game plan, starting to mix head shots with body punches. That produces an immediate effect as one left hook forced Lebedev to go down in pain. Obviously hurt, the champion showed his trademark toughness, fighting through pain to gain his way back into the fight.

But Gassiev wasn’t going anywhere. He was there, right in Lebedev’s face, determined and resilient. Lebedev lost rounds six and seven on the effect of the knockdown (eating more body shots), then started to take it back.

At 37, Lebedev did show some signs of slowing down but even more in punching power as his shots looked soft or didn’t carry their usual kinetic energy to endanger Gassiev. But it could very well be the result of Gassiev’s chin being well underestimated. The guy can obviously take a great punch and fight through it.

Lebedev’s biggest round was the tenth, when he did shake Murat up, pinned him to the ropes and forced to cover up. The eleventh was mostly even, and in the twelfth Lebedev accelerated as both boxers exchanged punches at a higher voltage with neither getting an edge.

It hasn’t been a one-sided fight but one, which nevertheless had a clear winner in it. Perception of what was going on in the ring, however, differed considerably based (literally) on the point of view.

From this reporter’s position on the outskirts of the arena, Gassiev’s wide win was beyond any doubt with 117-110 scorecard being an average score there. Those, who watched it by TV had it closer: 115-112 or even 114-113 – but all in the challenger’s favour. Nevertheless. Pawel Kardynyi of Poland somehow found a way to award it to the champion: 113-114 – for Lebedev. Russian veteran judge Alexander Kalinkin and US Joseph Pascuale were exactly right on target with their scores: 116-112 and 116-111 respectively.

The win was met with mixed feelings. Those in Lebedev’s corner were obviously disappointed and frustrated with the decision. Large Ossetian groups at the arena screamed in joy as Southern Ossetia president Leonid Tibilov congratulated Gassiev in the ring (meanwhile, Gassiev represents Northern Ossetia, which is a part of Russia).

Denis Lebedev greeted and thanked his opponent on a great fight but also added that he can hardly accept a loss in what he thought was his win.

“Actually, Gassiev hadn’t changed much from our previous meeting in a sparring session somewhat two years ago. He has still much to learn in boxing but he is physically strong, determined and I congratulate him on this win even though I think I had done enough to take it. I had even overestimated him and, honestly, it wasn’t my toughest fight to date by far”, commented Lebedev afterwards. His bruised, swollen face told a different story, and surely Gassiev has improved considerably even since his NC against Thomas.

TBRB #10 Gassiev is now 24-0, 17 KOs. His real potential is yet unknown but a solid win over one of the division’s best fighters (in fact Lebedev was rated #1 cruiserweight by a big number of boxing outlets) should propel him to no lower than the second place.

More importantly, his victory is yet another proof of an ongoing change of guard in one of the sport’s underrated weight classes. In just three months two vastly talented fighters got their breakthrough wins, the first being Oleksandr Usyk in September, who reached the same type of accomplishment with the road sensation win versus WBO champion Krzysztof Glowacki.

Gassiev and Usyk is a future of cruiserweights for several years. Another one who can enter the picture is Latvian banger Mairis Briedis, who has set his eyes on the WBC belt, which could be vacant by March regardless of the outcome of a proposed huge fight between Tony Bellew and David Haye.

The only part of the division, which is untouched by a renewal, is the WBA. Thanks to his management and promotional upside, Lebedev (29-3)  is going out of his battle as the WBA Super champion as the black belt wasn’t at stake. Lebedev’s next opponent should be defined in a bout between former long-time (but little-fought) WBA light heavyweight champion and current WBA regular titleholder Beibut Shumenov (17-2, 11 KOs) and Cuban power hitter and WBA interim champion Yunier Dorticos (21-0, 20 KOs).

Dorticos is the new blood, Shumenov is not. No matter who will come out as a winner of the WBA little tourney – Lebedev, Shumenov or Dorticos – the winner won’t be recognized as a real champion by the fight fans. That distinction belongs either to Usyk, or to Gassiev. A rivalry between them is what should make the cruiserweight division a real thriller.