Heavyweight boxing has always lived by a simple, brutal promise: that at any second, one punch can end everything.
It is the division of explosive conclusions and seismic moments – think Muhammad Ali’s ghostly KO of Sonny Liston (1964), George Foreman’s thunder punch that floored Michael Moorer (1994) and Mike Tyson’s menacing destruction of Michael Spinks (1988).
On Friday night at a packed Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, fight fans were reminded, viscerally, why heavyweight boxing still commands attention like no other division.
In the sixth round of the feature bout at IBA Pro 13: Night of Champions, Russian Murat Gassiev delivered a perfectly timed left hook that sent Bulgarian veteran Kubrat Pulev crashing to the canvas, sealing a stunning one-punch knockout to be crowned the new WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight world champion.
It was the kind of finish that freezes an arena for a split second before releasing an unforgettable roar from fans.
Pulev, 44, whose long and admirable career has included world-title challenges against Wladimir Klitschko, Anthony Joshua, and Derek Chisora, entered the bout knowing the stakes.
Early on, he boxed with high intent. Behind a stiff, piston-like jab, Pulev controlled the opening rounds, keeping Gassiev, 12 years younger at 32, at range and dictating the tempo. But as the fight wore on, the tide began to shift. Gassiev, the former unified cruiserweight world champion, began to invest heavily to the body loosening Pulev’s foundations.
A flicker before the fall
The fifth round saw a flicker of life as Pulev pinned Gassiev to the ropes with a sharp right, threatening to rewrite history, but the warning signs were unmistakable.
Then came the decisive blow that defined the night.
A sweetly timed left hook, thrown with the accuracy of a sniper, landed flush, dropping Pulev heavily to the mat. A veteran of over 300 fights, the Bulgarian, who is nicknamed ’The Cobra’, bravely tried to beat the count, but his legs betrayed him. The fight, and perhaps his future dreams, were over.
With the victory, Gassiev improved to 33-2 (26 KOs) and placed himself squarely back into the world heavyweight title conversation, potentially lining up future clashes with Ukraine’s two‑time undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk or rising British star Moses Itauma.
“This is heavyweight boxing,” Gassiev said afterwards. “I always said that one punch can change everything. I respected Pulev’s experience, but I believed in my power and my timing. Tonight, everything came together for me.”
Echoes of boxing history
Earlier on the card, Nico Ali Walsh, the grandson of boxing icon Muhammad Ali, returned to winning ways after just five weeks with a composed and commanding unanimous decision victory over Dubai-based fan-favourite Jeremiah Sserwadda at middleweight.
Walsh, improving to 12-2-1, boxed with maturity and purpose across all six rounds, shutting down the raucous support from the African section of the sold-out stadium that greeted every Sserwadda punch. The Ugandan, who dropped to 12-5-1, showed heart and ambition, but Walsh’s ‘Ali-like’ footwork, timing and ring intelligence proved decisive.
With his mother Rasheda and father Bob Walsh watching from the VIP enclosure alongside a host of global sporting figures that included Manny Pacquiao, Terrence Crawford, Deontay Wilder, Amir Khan and MMA greats Rmpage Jacks and Henry Cejudo, Walsh carried both history and expectation with calm authority as he crafts his own path while honouring the Muhammad Ali legacy stitched into his green and gold trunks.
“Every fight, I try to make bigger and bigger statements,” said Walsh.
Anwar delivers a statement for Indian boxing
Indian boxing enjoyed a significant moment as Faizan Anwar extended his unbeaten record to 21-0 with a disciplined points victory over the dangerous Khuseyn Baysangurov.
Born in Kolkata and now based in Dubai, Anwar has been moulded at the Ahmed Seddiqi-owned Round 10 Boxing Club in Quoz, and the support inside the arena reflected that journey. Fellow Round 10 fighters Farhad Baloushi and Sultan Al Numair roared him on as Anwar boxed with grit and control, ingrained by Seddiqi in his stable of fighters.
Against a seasoned opponent, Anwar handled the pressure well and emerged with a win that further underlined his growing credentials on the international stage.
A night to remember
The undercard delivered its share of intrigue and action. Tajikistan’s Olympic star Bakhodur Usmonov rallied late to edge Britain’s Maxi Hughes, a former IBO lightweight champion, in an eliminator. Florida-based Russian fighter Vadim Musaev stopped South Africa’s Tulani Mbenge in the third round of a possible ten, to claim the IBO welterweight world title, and Russia’s Artem Suslenkov announced himself with a brutal heavyweight knockout of American Stanley Wright.
The women’s fight was won by France’s Estelle Mossely who defeated Ellen Simwaka by unanimous decision over 8 rounds.
But when the lights finally went out well past midnight, and the dust settled, the night would be remembered for a single moment, the one punch from Gassiev that captured the raw excitement of heavyweight boxing.
Results
Artem Suslenkov – TKO 6th round – Stanley Wright
Samuel Carmona – UD 8 – Immanuel Josef
Madiyar Saydrakhimov – MD 10 – David Dzukaev
Estelle Mossely – UD 8 – Ellen Simwaka
Nico Ali Walsh – UD 6 – Jeremiah Sserwadda
Daud Aleuv – RTD 6 – Dave Penalosa
Vadim Musaev – TKO 3 – Tulani Mbenge
Khariton Agrba – UD 12 – Ruben Munoz (117-111, 119-109, 120-108)
Faizan Anwar – SD 10 – Khuseyn Baysangurov (97-93, 96-94, 96-94)
Yoel Finol – SD 10 – Shakhobidin Zoirov (97-93, 98-95 to Finol, 96-94 to Zoirov)
Murat Gassiev – KO 6 – Kubrat Pulev