Murat Gassiev to defend WBA heavyweight title against Peter Kadiru after Tony Yoka withdraws
Murat Gassiev will now make the first defense of his WBA heavyweight title against Peter Kadiru on Saturday in Moscow, Russia, IBA Pro announced Monday.
Gassiev was set to put his championship on the line against Tony Yoka until the Frenchman withdrew last week due to a back injury.
After Oleksandr Usyk relinquished his unified heavyweight titles last month, Gassiev was elevated to full WBA heavyweight champion. The Russian joins Agit Kabayel (WBC) and Daniel Dubois (WBO) as reigning heavyweight titlists, while the IBF belt remains vacant with Moses Itauma and Frank Sanchez ordered to fight for it.
The elevation made Gassiev a two-division world champion, following his reign as unified cruiserweight champion in 2018 until losing the belts to Usyk.
Gassiev (33-2, 26 KOs) captured the WBA Regular title this past December with a brutal sixth-round knockout win over former title challenger Kubrat Pulev. He has had eight fights at heavyweight, losing just once, to Otto Wallin in a 2023 IBF title eliminator.
Germany’s Kadiru (23-1, 13 KOs) has won nine fights since his lone career defeat, a first-round knockout loss to journeyman Marcos Antonio Aumada in November 2022.
Kadiru has never fought anywhere near the world level in the heavyweight division and so Saturday’s late-notice fight represents a sizable step up for him. Kadiru was last in action this past May, winning a competitive decision over Senad Gashi.
