{"id":769722,"date":"2026-06-30T10:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/769722\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T10:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:58:10","slug":"boxing-lesson-murat-gassiev-reveals-what-happened-in-his-sparring-sessions-with-wladimir-klitschko-years-before-tony-yoka-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/769722\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Boxing lesson’… Murat Gassiev reveals what happened in his sparring sessions with Wladimir Klitschko years before Tony Yoka fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE: Murat Gassiev has given a fascinating insight into the truth behind his sparring sessions with Wladimir Klitschko.<\/p>\n

On July 11, the WBA heavyweight world champion will put his title on the line against Tony Yoka<\/a> at IBA Pro 19 inside the VTB Arena in Moscow, Russia.<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

Murat Gassiev opens up about sparring Wladimir Klitschko<\/p>\n

In 2026, the world knows Murat Gassiev<\/a> as the monstrous puncher who sent shivers down the spines of every opponent he faced at cruiserweight en route to unifying the division before heading up to heavyweight, where he recently detonated a ferocious left hook on the chin of Kubrat Pulev<\/a> to win a belt there too.<\/p>\n

However, long before he became a fan favourite in the sport, he was just a prospect desperate to soak up the advice of his heroes. And during his time in the ring with \u2018Dr Steelhammer\u2019 he honed the skills that eventually made him one of the most dangerous competitors on the planet.<\/p>\n

WOW: Ben Whittaker \u2018got annoyed\u2019\u2026 Zak Chelli opens up about his near-brawl with \u2018The Surgeon\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

During an exclusive interview with Sporf, Gassiev reminisced: \u201cWhen I was 20-years-old during my first time in the US, I was looking around and I was shocked, it was a new country. My coach asked me, \u2018Do you want to spar with Wladimir Klitschko<\/a>\u2018? I said, \u2018Yes, of course, let\u2019s go\u2019. We went to Miami, and we had a couple of sparring sessions, and he beat me like it was a unanimous decision. But it didn\u2019t matter because he\u2019s a legend. Of course he beat me, I was young, I went for a boxing lesson and to see the atmosphere and be around the aura of a champion with a big team and lots of sparring partners. For me, it was a very good moment in my heart. I was very happy with this. I also sparred with Deontay Wilder<\/a>; he\u2019s a great person, very friendly and respectful. To spend time and share the ring with these legends is a big present for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YouTube<\/p>\n

Murat Gassiev on whether he can KO Tony Yoka<\/p>\n

With Oleksandr Usyk<\/a> vacating all his heavyweight world titles, Gassiev is now in the prime position to be elevated to WBA super champion. However, for now, his main focus is on the man in front of him.<\/p>\n

Despite believing he has the capability of rendering his opponent unconscious, the powerhouse is going into this one having gone the extra mile in camp to ensure he comes out on top no matter what happens.<\/p>\n

Gassiev explained: \u201cI don\u2019t think about the knockout or the perfect punch. I always train hard and prepare for 12 rounds. But like I\u2019ve said many times in the heavyweight division, our weights are more than 100kg. One punch and the fight can finish. I can\u2019t see the future, but I will be ready for anything in the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Featured Image Credit: IBA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: Murat Gassiev has given a fascinating insight into the truth behind his sparring sessions with Wladimir Klitschko.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":769723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[571],"tags":[64,63,802,189474,85,26896,124133],"class_list":["post-769722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-boxing","tag-murat-gassiev","tag-sports","tag-tony-yoka","tag-wladimir-klitschko"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=769722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/769722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/769723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=769722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=769722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=769722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}