Contributor: Nolan Howell
Cruiserweight: Murat Gassiev defeated Denis Lebedev by split decision to win the IBF World Cruiserweight title.
In what could end up being boxing’s fight of the year for 2016, Gassiev dominated Lebedev in the middle of the fight and survived a late onslaught to capture the IBF World Cruiserweight title.
Lebedev proved to be the superior boxer early as he controlled Gassiev from coming in for the first three or four uneventful rounds. Gassiev turned the tide in the fifth round with a left hook that landed right on liver of Lebedev. Lebedev struggled to recover as Gassiev continued to work the body, with the aforementioned left hook finding a home often. Lebedev survived and an uppercut in the tenth round turned things around as Gassiev wore down.
The decision favored the challenger, but it was arguable for either fighter as Lebedev controlled with better technique while the knockdown and power of Gassiev could have earned him the final nod.
Neither fighter should be hurt too badly in the standings after this amazing fight. A rematch is possible, but both should be near the upper echelon of a great cruiserweight division. While Lebedev will remain a mainstay, this especially favors Gassiev as a very young fighter with a lot of the old guard in the upper ranks heading towards twilights or declines in their careers.
Russian boxing delivers again here and this one is can’t miss.
Super Lightweight: Julius Indongo defeated Eduard Troyanovsky by first-round KO to win the IBF World Super Lightweight and IBO World Super Lightweight titles.
A massive upset with a massive KO as Indongo laid Troyanovsky stiff in the first round with a looping left hand. Toryanovsky dropped his right hand after throwing his jab and Indongo’s punch soon leveled him in a fight that was just getting started as the two looked for to establish distance.
Troyanovsky is on the wrong side of his 30s and can likely salvage his standing with a few wins in Russia over similarly ranked competition as Indongo, but you can now question whether his top five standing in the division will stand for much longer or mean anything as the gulf between him and Terence Crawford grew even larger. By the time he recovers from the loss with two or three wins, he could very well be at the end of the line.
Indongo will shoot up the rankings and dive head-first into the shark tank, but in a relatively shallow division, a win like this can do wonders. Fighting anyone in the top ten will be risky for Indongo, but he has at least earned those opportunities with this upset.
-Nolan can be reached @undercardnolan or at [email protected]
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