Kubrat Pulev vs. Murat Gassiev | DAZN - December 12, 2025

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Maxi Hughes’ ‘perfect team’ preparing to upset Bakhodur Usmonov

English veteran Maxi Hughes knows victory on Friday will take him a step closer to another title shot.

The lightweight Hughes is ranked No. 5 by the WBC, No. 7 by the WBA, and No. 10 by the IBF. He has tested himself against the likes of William Zepeda, George Kambosos, Liam and Ryan Walsh, and Archie Sharp. Tajikistan’s Bakhodur Usmonov, Hughes’ opponent, is undefeated at 11-0 (5 KOs) but doesn’t have Hughes’ depth of experience in the fight game.

And despite his veteran status, the 35-year-old Hughes still needs the voice of coach Sean O’Hagan – father and trainer of Josh Warrington – in the corner.

“I still very much respect the instructions that my trainer gives me,” said Hughes, 29-7-2 (6 KOs).

“I feel like we’re a perfect team,” Hughes told BS. “He knows the right things to say and he knows the right things that get the best out of me. I’m not a fighter who needs a trainer standing in front of me, firing a rocket up my backside, going, ‘Come on, come on.’

“I’m a professional and I can work hard. I know to work hard. I need the intelligent things said in a calm manner. Our personalities gel really well together and it, even like we were sparring recently and it’s still the same every time I spar, every round I go back to that corner, I’m like looking at it and going, ‘Was that all right? Did I do everything you told me to? Did I execute it?’ And it’s like I’m trying to please him all the time. ‘Was that good enough? Did I do good then?’ I’m always seeking his approval and wanting that and I’ve got full, 100 per cent trust and faith in everything that he says. I absolutely need Sean in my corner to carry on moving forward.”

Hughes-Usmonov will meet on the IBA Pro “Night of Champions” bill headlined by the heavyweight fight between Bulgarian veteran Kubrat Pulev and Russia’s Murat Gassiev.

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Maxi Hughes plans to punish ‘chinny’ Bakhdour Usmonov

Tajikistan’s Bakhdour Usmonov would not be drawn into a verbal exchange with Maxi Hughes ahead of their important lightweight clash in Dubai on Friday.

They will fight at the Duty Free Tennis Stadium on the big IBA promotion topped by Kubrat Pulev’s heavyweight contest with Murat Gassiev.

“I’m not going to talk a lot,” said the 11-0 (5 KOs) Usmonov. “Thanks to everyone, I will do my best to show good boxing.”

Hughes, answering a question from the media, said he felt he could expose the unbeaten prospect.

“He’s what we say in the UK chinny; a bit fragile around the whiskers,” the veteran Englishman said.

Usmonov, asked to counter, merely replied: “I respect him but the ring will show everything.”

Usmonov and Hughes, 35, also share a bill with US heavyweight Stanley Wright and Nico Ali Walsh, who said he was “looking to continually grow as a fighter”.

Hughes, 29-7-2 (6KOs), added: “I had a couple of options with the fights I could choose. I was mandatory for the European title and there were a couple of fights in the US but this made the most sense.”

Hughes said that was looking to chase one of the four major belts.

“We’re more than ready for what’s to come on Friday night,” he said. “We’ve studied Usmonov, good amateur, but that doesn’t always translate to a good pro. You can’t buy, borrow or steal experience and I’ve got it. I’m the away fighter here but that’s what fires me up. That’s what makes me think I’m going to come over here and show these boys and I’m very confident for Friday night.”

When asked for a prediction, Hughes said he was keen to take matters out of the judges’ hands.

“Just a Maxi Hughes win,” he said. “I’ve been scarred before – what happened in Oklahoma against George Kambosos [Jnr, when Hughes lost a controversial decision]. I stood him on his head and they took it away from me. I’m a big underdog. I don’t know how. That’s more pressure to him. I just need to show up and do what I do.”

[MightyWarrior]

It says Pulev holds the secondary heavyweight title, but i thought he held the thirdry heavyweight title?

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It says Pulev holds the secondary heavyweight title, but i thought he held the thirdry heavyweight title?

regular. is secondary.

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Murat Gassiev doesn't consider Kubrat Pulev an old man ahead of title challenge

Heavyweights Kubrat Pulev and Murat Gassiev refused to look beyond one another ahead of their fight on Friday in Dubai.

Pulev, who holds a version of the WBA title, defends against his Russian opponent at the Duty Free Tennis Centre and at today’s press conference the fighters were asked about possible future fights with Moses Itauma, Oleksandr Usyk and even next week’s bout between Anthony Joshua – a previous Pulev opponent – and Jake Paul.

“I can’t see the future, all my focus is on December 12,” said Gassiev of their IBA Pro Fight Night bout. “I don’t know what will happen on Friday, after we can speak and I can give you an answer. On Friday, I have a very tough fight against a top fighter.”

Pulev replied similarly when asked about what might come next.

“When I win, after my win, we will see. I can’t say now,” he said.

Bulgarian Pulev, 32-3 (14 KOs), had promised his father that he would become Bulgaria’s first world heavyweight champion.

“This was my dream and the dream of my father,” he said. “That’s why we started boxing, because my father was in love with boxing, he loved this great sport and then I had more than 300 amateurs fights and a lot of professional fights and I have a lot of experience and thank God I had the opportunity to have the world title fight in Bulgaria and to win that fight,” he said, of the night he defeated Mahmoud Charr.

Now 44, he said he is as good as he’s ever been and he’s motivated to fight on.

“I feel the best, I feel great, I feel amazing. I feel powerful. I have a lot of energy. When I go to training, I feel amazing. That’s why I want to defend my title. Murat is a great champion and he also has a lot of experience but I feel I’m the better one and I will show that on Friday. It’s not an easy fight, of course. But if it was easy, it would not be so nice.”

Pulev’s team said they would like a rematch with Joshua.

Gassiev, 33-2 (25 KOs), a former unified champion at cruiserweight whose two losses came to southpaws in Oleksandr Usyk and Otto Wallin, the latter at heavyweight, said he was prepared for anything in Dubai.

“This heavyweight division, only one punch can change any plan, any strategy, and tactic, and you need to be ready 1,000 per cent, any second,” said the challenger.

“Kubrat, he’s the WBA heavyweight champion, he has a lot of experience. Many people say he is old at 44 but that is only a number. He has a lot of experience, he’s always in shape, he looks perfect and I know he’s ready for 12 rounds and I know it’s one of the toughest opponents in my professional career and we know we are ready for anything.”

He also knows that Usyk is not going to stay around forever, that the IBF is having issues with its lengthy list of contenders and that the climate is set to alter further.

“At heavyweight the situation is changing rapidly and anything can happen,” said Gassiev.

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Teofilo Stevenson

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Fight Night!!

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Gassiev hit the scales first and weighed in at 230.8lbs. Pulev, then tipped the scales at 253.5lbs.

Usmonov weighed in at 134.5lbs and Hughes hit the scales at 134.7lbs.

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Kubrat Pulev calls for stronger testing after absence of control for fight with Murat Gassiev

Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev wants more to be done in boxing about its doping epidemic.

Speaking ahead of his WBA regular title defense against Russia’s Murat Gassiev, Pulev claimed he knows a recent opponent of his failed a test that never came to light, and had been willing to give that fighter a rematch, but that the authorities declined to allow it to happen.

“It needs to be better controlled because now, until today, we don’t have doping control for this fight,” he said of the Gassiev bout. “It’s not good. Boxing must stay sport. Boxing must be safe, not war. When we don’t have doping control, it’s not so good and it will not be sport, it will be war. It must stay a sport because it’s one of the most important things – we must have good doping control.”

The 44-year-old veteran has been boxing since he was 10. He had more than 300 fights in the amateurs and as a professional he fought the likes of Tony Thompson, Michael Sprott, Alexander Dimitrenko, Derek Chisora, Sam Peter, Hughie Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, and Anthony Joshua.

He defeated Manuel Charr for the title he is defending, in Bulgaria in 2024. But he is unable to pinpoint who the best he has faced is.

“I can’t say – it’s difficult,” Pulev said. “I’ve done so much boxing; also in the amateurs I’ve fought against Cuban boxers, so it’s difficult to say. I think every fighter can be the best; they can be amazing on one night, if they’re prepared.”

In the amateurs, he faced many notables, from Odlanier Solis and Roberto Cammarelle – multiple times each – to Sultan Ibragimov and Islam Timurziev. And he says that his passion for boxing is still strong.

“What I still want [from boxing]?” he asked. “It’s my life. It’s my everything. For so many years I’ve been doing this. I started when I was 10 years old – this is my life. I think it’s a great, great sport with a lot of history, thousands of years.”

Pulev liked the charisma, personality and style of Muhammad Ali, but he’s studied many of the greats.

“I liked other boxers, too, and sometimes I take the best things from other boxers, the things I like,” he said.

However, unlike many fighters who struggle when the call for retirement comes, Pulev thinks he will be just fine when he walks away from the sport.

“Of course – my life with boxing and without boxing, there’s not much difference,” he said. “I think now I have separate business and it will be the same, just not training and I won’t be so active. I’m not so dramatic [to become depressed without boxing].

“I understand it is what it is, and I understand it but what can you do? You can’t take the time back or take your life back or go back in time, so you need to appreciate it while you’re doing it.”

Pulev does appreciate it. He’s clearly enjoyed the journey and he is not ready for it to be over. His team hope big nights lie ahead, too, and they mentioned wanting a return with Joshua at Wednesday’s press conference.

Pulev made it clear he is thinking only about Gassiev and continuing his journey through the sport he loves, but one that he understands is fraught with politics.

“For example, in amateur boxing, the referee sometimes changes points, this is not good,” he said. “Otherwise, the sport is amazing; the sport is great. That’s why boxing has such a big history, because it’s good. That’s why it’s important it’s at the Olympic Games, it’s interesting and people need this.”

But Gassiev, of course, comes first.

“He’s very good,” he said. “He was a champion. You can never say, style with style if someone is better than someone else. The fight is the fight.”

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DAZN will stream the show live starting from 7:00 am ET.

DAZN subscribers can watch anywhere around the world except for those in Argentina, Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Russia, China, and Turkey.

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Date: December 12, 2025
Location: Dubai Tennis Stadium - Dubai , United Arab Emirates
Stream: DAZN & IBA YouTube
Start time: 9 am ET | 6:00 am PT | 2 pm GMT | 6 pm (local)

Main Card

WBA “Regular” Heavyweight Championship
Kubrat Pulev vs. Murat Gassiev

12 Round WBA Lightweight Title Eliminator Bout
Bakhodur Usmonov vs. Maxi Hughes

IBO Welterweight Championship
Vadim Musaev vs. Tulani Mbenge,

12 Round Bantamweight Bout Fight is under IBA Pro sanctioning
Yoel Finol vs. Shakhobidin Zoirov

12 Round WBA Super Lightweight Title Eliminator Bout
Khariton Agrba vs. Nerii Munoz

Preliminary Card

6 Round Middleweight Bout
Nico Ali Walsh vs. Jeremiah Sserwadda

10 Round Lightweight Bout
Dave Penalosa vs. Daud Alaev

10 Round Welterweight Bout
Faizan Anwar vs. Khuseyn Baysangurov

IBA Pro Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship
Stanley Wright vs. Artem Suslenkov

8 Round Bantamweight Bout
Samuel Carmona vs. Immanuel Josef

6 Round Heavyweight Bout
David Dzukaev vs. Madiyar Saydrakhimov

8 Round Lightweight Bout
Estelle Mossely vs. Ellen Simwaka

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On now

[joshj909]

On now

The main event?

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On now

The main event?

No. That’s later i think

[tiny_acres]

Final prediction. Pulev close UD

[joshj909]

Final prediction. Pulev close UD

Realistically it has to be Pulev by decision or Gassiev KO right?

[tiny_acres]

Final prediction. Pulev close UD

Realistically it has to be Pulev by decision or Gassiev KO right?

I would assume so, but I don't think Gassiev can ko Pulev

[Perkin Warbeck]

Baysangurov was just robbed of a deserved win - all his opponent did for most of the fight was repeatedly hold.

[MightyWarrior]

I’m just tuning in, it sounds like Ron is commentating, does anyone know what hour on the clock face we should be referencing during commentary?

[MightyWarrior]

Received an email from the IBO the other day and I think I’ve accidentally been made an Intercontinental champion.

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This works for anyone with a VPN.

[gregregegg]

How long till main event?

[Perkin Warbeck]

How long till main event?

Not long.

One more fight (Hughes-Usmonov), then the main event.

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Been a long ass card