Oleksandr Usyk Injures Elbow, Super Series Bout With Gassiev Postponed

Cruiserweight division fans will have to wait to see the top two names in the weight class go head to head. Murat Gassiev is champion in the WBA and IBF, while Oleksandr Usyk reigns in the WBC and WBO, and the two were set to fight with all four belts on the line after making it to the cruiserweight final of the World Boxing Super Series. The fight was going to happen in Saudi Arabia, on May 11, but will be delayed after Usyk injured himself in training.

The injury is reportedly minor in nature but will still keep him from being ready at the time of the May 11 event, which will be rescheduled for another date. The rescheduled date has not been announced yet. Usyk’s last fight was near the end of January, when he defeated Mairis Briedis by majority decision and won the WBC title.

His opponent, Gassiev, won the WBA title by getting a TKO victory over Yunier Dorticos. Both fights were in the semi-finals of the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament. The winner of the tournament will hold the belt in each of the major organizations.

An independent medical staff has confirmed the injury, meaning it’s extremely unlikely that this is a trick to help Usyk get more training time leading up to the title unification fight. The cruiserweight title will be unified by the end of the tournament, but now, it’s a matter of when. This is also worth watching for heavyweight fans, since a move up to heavyweight isn’t out of the question for Usyk if he can defeat his main rival in the cruiserweight division.