BoxRec

One of two good matchups on Spike tomorrow night, Barthelemy vs. Shafikov being the other.

Murat Gassiev is just age 22, Isiah Thomas is in his prime at age 26.

- Gassiev had 23 amateur fights, Thomas had 100.
- Gassiev is 6'3" with a reach of 76" while Thomas is 6'4" with a reach of 80".

Looks like Thomas has all the advantages, including HOME COUNTRY advantage.

Gassiev probably punches harder, or at least is more likely to go for the KO (Gassiev has a 73% KO ratio, Thomas has a 40% KO ratio). Of course, he can't win on the scorecards, he'll need a KO to win in Thomas' home country.

Thomas is an elusive defensive boxer despite his size, so Gassiev will need to break him down gradually and attempt to take him out in the late rounds. It would be a mistake for Gassiev to go for a one-punch KO early, he'll need to be aggressive but patient.

Gassiev will confrontably win this one, Thomas is nothing special.

Aaronide_ger wrote:Gassiev will comfortably win this one, Thomas is nothing special.

Maybe, but Thomas is taller with a much longer reach, he's fully mature at age 26, and has had far more amateur fights. Plus he has home country advantage.

Gassiev is up against it in this one - but I hope he will succeed.

Freedom2013 wrote:

Aaronide_ger wrote:Gassiev will comfortably win this one, Thomas is nothing special.

Maybe, but Thomas is taller with a much longer reach, he's fully mature at age 26, and has had far more amateur fights. Plus he has home country advantage.

Gassiev is up against it in this one - but I hope he will succeed.

Gassiev is just half an inch shorter.. Boxrec has him listed as 6 foot 3 and 1/2, but Abel has stated he is 6 foot 4.

If the sparring rumours are true about Murat he should at least win EASY if not knock him out.

Isiah will win this contest. He's going to be the slicker guy and will outscore Gassiev. If he lets his hands go like he can it will be a wide margin win. If he isn't that active he will still win a close fight. Thomas is a future world champion and is as skillful as they get at CW today. He is also a very hard style to fight and is good at making guys look bad. Ask Jordan Schimmel about looking bad. Thomas schooled him and he will school this young guy as well. I'm glad it is an eliminator as Thomas should be on the fast track to the title. There is no point in fighting lesser bouts for him. Taking on, and then out, these top young fighters is the way to go. Get R Done Isiah!

Aaronide_ger wrote:Gassiev is just half an inch shorter.. Boxrec has him listed as 6 foot 3 and 1/2, but Abel has stated he is 6 foot 4.

If the sparring rumours are true about Murat he should at least win EASY if not knock him out.

Gassiev appears to be about a weight division smaller and an inch shorter in the weigh-in photos. The difference in reach is 80" to 76".

Thomas has an age, height, reach, experience and home advantages in this fight. Gassiev is a promising boxer, but he's up against it here.

Photos are misleading. Gassiev should stop feather-fisted Thomas.

Ishe Smith 27 8 0
vs
Tommy Rainone 24 6 1
Super Welterweight

Smith won by UD

Well that result sucked as far as seeing a good fight but it looked like the right call all the way around. Thomas definitely was hit after the bell and it was that shot that hurt him. It was called right as accidental as well.

As for how it was going, Thomas was winning on all 3 cards and landing more shots on Gassiev who is very easy to hit clean. Gassiev showed the power there at the end of the 3rd though. I'm not sure if the bell and round end was involved in Thomas taking that last shot or not. If it wasn't and something like that had occurred mid round he would have been in trouble. Besides that exchange and the last 3 seconds of round 3 Thomas looked to be the superior guy and if he could stay on his feet there would be little doubt that he would outscore Gassiev. Gassiev would only have one shot to beat Thomas and that would be to put him away. He doesn't have the skills to score more points than Thomas. I hope they do it all again and we get to find out.

Isiah Thomas 15 0 0
vs
Murat Gassiev 22 0 0
Cruiserweight

NC

Kronkpride wrote:Well that result sucked as far as seeing a good fight but it looked like the right call all the way around. Thomas definitely was hit after the bell and it was that shot that hurt him. It was called right as accidental as well.

As for how it was going, Thomas was winning on all 3 cards and landing more shots on Gassiev who is very easy to hit clean. Gassiev showed the power there at the end of the 3rd though. I'm not sure if the bell and round end was involved in Thomas taking that last shot or not. If it wasn't and something like that had occurred mid round he would have been in trouble. Besides that exchange and the last 3 seconds of round 3 Thomas looked to be the superior guy and if he could stay on his feet there would be little doubt that he would outscore Gassiev. Gassiev would only have one shot to beat Thomas and that would be to put him away. He doesn't have the skills to score more points than Thomas. I hope they do it all again and we get to find out.

Bullsh!t. "Superior guy" ??? Really ? Then Monroe was superior against Golovkin. Typical cheating for a hometown guy. Thomas was going down in the next round or a couple rounds later. He had ZERO chances to last 12 without an injury or cheating involved.

TheBeast wrote:Isiah Thomas 15 0 0
vs
Murat Gassiev 22 0 0
Cruiserweight

NC

From that, it looks like Thomas was putting on an act to try to get Gassiev DQed or simply wanted a way out of the fight.

The fight went pretty much as I expected up to that point. Thomas used his reach advantage to keep away from Murat's punches.

The experience of being in with a long-armed defense-first runner will be good for the young Gassiev, I think he boxes more wisely and KOs Thomas before the bell in the rematch.

I am so disgusted with this fight. Thomas is a JOKE, he was getting KNOCKED OUT in the next 2-4 rounds.

Joshua vs Whyte should have been a NC according to this fight haha, They are a joke.

The right call was made, but Gassiev really looked superior.

I hate no contests, but Thomas was really dinged after that shot. Unfortunate it came slightly after the bell.