BoxRec

Announced: Murat Gassiev will now defend his WBA heavyweight title against Peter Kadiru on July 11th, following Tony Yoka's withdrawal through injury.

KADIRU DRAFTED IN TO FACE GASSIEV AFTER YOKA INJURY

Murat Gassiev is set to defend his world heavyweight title against Peter Kadiru, after Tony Yoka withdrew from the fight due to injury.

Gassiev (33-2, 26 KOs) had been preparing to face 2016 Olympic champion Yoka at Moscow’s VTB Arena on July 11 before news emerged that the Frenchman sustained a back injury last week.

As reported by The Ring, the show's IBA organizers got straight to work on securing a credible replacement for Yoka in order to keep the show alive. Joe Joyce, who is scheduled to face Artem Suslenkov over 10 rounds on the undercard, was one of the names in the running for a shot at Gassiev.

But now it is understood that Kadiru (23-1, 13 KOs) has been drafted in to save the show on less than a week’s notice.

The 29-year-old has been steadily rebuilding following a shock 56-second knockout defeat to Marcos Antonio Aumada in 2022 and is now on a nine-fight winning streak.

He last boxed on May 15 when outpointing experienced Senad Gashi over 10 rounds in Mannheim, Germany during the Paddy Donovan-Karen Chukhadzhian undercard, claiming his most significant win to date.

Now that victory has paved the way to a shot at the WBA heavyweight title.

This comes after Gassiev, The Ring’s ninth-rated heavyweight, was elevated from his position as ‘regular’ champion in the wake of Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to vacate his belts.

Gassiev, the 32-year-old former world cruiserweight champion, claimed the secondary belt when stopping previous holder Kubrat Pulev in the sixth round of their Dubai clash on December 12.

He had been set to make his first title defense against Yoka but now Kadiru, not currently ranked inside the top 15 with any of the four major sanctioning bodies, will head to Moscow instead.

I get that it's a short-notice replacement which is probably as good as you're likely to get at this point, but Kadiru is unlikely to offer much of a challenge IMO.

He managed to outpoint 36 year old Senad Gashi in his last fight arguably his best win.

On the flipside has was knocked out in one by 23 and 11 Marcos Aumada which doesn't really inspire confidence.

It's a shame because Gassiev v Yoka was a pretty interesting matchup but what can you do?

So Kadiru is getting this fight on like 5 or 6 days notice?

Joyce having lost 4 of his past 5 was not really qualified for a world title shot. Kadiru (who is in his prime at age 29) has won 9 in a row and has been steadily improving. He's really not a bad short-notice opponent.

Joyce is already scheduled to fight Suslenkov, a very good boxer but small at 6'1" for the heavyweight division and not a big puncher. Suslenkov should be at cruiserweight.

It would not have been fair to choose Joyce simply because he's a privileged high-profile British boxer.

Kadiru is clearly better than age 40 Joyce (who was knocked down by shot Chisora, who then lost to a faded Wilder). Gassiev other than being a hard puncher, is not really very good so I will not be surprised if Kadiru wins on Saturday.

When was the last world title fight to have two people this bad? Gassiev isn't awful but he's also not close to world title level at heavyweight. Kadiru is way off.

This is going to take the place of Charles Martin vs the guy that blew his knee out or Oleg Maskaev vs Peter Okello as possibly the least significant Heavyweight title fight of all time.

Imagine having two german heavyweight champions at the same time, after not having even one in about 100 years.

The decision to add Kadiru to the new WBA rankings was made back in May, after Kadiru won the WBA continental heavyweight title in his fight with Gashi.

Kadiru set to replace Yoka, face Gassiev

Murat Gassiev is set to defend his world heavyweight title against Peter Kadiru, after Tony Yoka withdrew from the fight due to injury.

Gassiev (33-2, 26 KOs) had been preparing to face 2016 Olympic champion Yoka at Moscow’s VTB Arena on July 11 before news emerged that the Frenchman ik injury last week.

As reported by The Ring, the show's IBA organizers got straight to work on securing a credible replacement for Yoka to keep the show alive. Joe Joyce, who is scheduled to face Artem Suslenkov over 10 rounds on the undercard, was in the running for a shot at Gassiev.

But now it is understood that Kadiru (23-1, 13 KOs) has been drafted in to save the show.

The 29-year-old has been steadily rebuilding following a shock 56-second knockout defeat to Marcos Antonio Aumada in 2022 and is on a nine-fight winning streak.

He last boxed on May 15 when outpointing experienced Senad Gashi over 10 rounds in Mannheim, Germany, during the Paddy Donovan-Karen Chukhadzhian undercard, claiming his most significant win to date.

That victory has paved the way to a shot at the WBA heavyweight title.

This comes after Gassiev, The Ring’s ninth-rated heavyweight, was elevated from his position as "regular" champion in the wake of Oleksandr Usyk’s decision to vacate his belts.

Gassiev, the 32-year-old former world cruiserweight champion, claimed the secondary belt when stopping previous holder Kubrat Pulev in the sixth round of their Dubai clash on December 12.

He had been set to make his first title defense against Yoka but now Kadiru, not ranked inside the top 15 with any of the four major sanctioning bodies, will head to Moscow instead.

Mistake in the above article: Kadiru was set to go into the next WBA heavyweight ratings this month, because he won a WBA continental belt in May, with his win over Gashi. The WBA has been slow to publishing the new updated rankings.

So he is ranked in the top 15 by the WBA.

Perkin Warbeck wrote: ↑08 Jul 2026, 15:02 Mistake in the above article: Kadiru was set to go into the next WBA heavyweight ratings this month, because he won a WBA continental belt in May, with his win over Gashi. The WBA has been slow to publishing the new updated rankings.

So he is ranked in the top 15 by the WBA.

Very convenient

Might have missed it, what time is it going to air in America?

513075 wrote: ↑09 Jul 2026, 11:03 Might have missed it, what time is it going to air in America?

The card will start very early, about 10 AM Eastern and about 7 AM Pacific. The main event will likely be around 2 PM Eastern and about 11 AM Pacific. Russian events don't have the annoying long delays between fights that are typical of German events.

It will be on YouTube and DAZN. There will be 8 fights, all tough matchups, with the opponents for the prospects having winning records and being better than we typically see on Queensberry, Matchroom and Top Rank cards.

Perkin Warbeck wrote: ↑06 Jul 2026, 15:26 Kadiru (who is in his prime at age 29) has won 9 in a row and has been steadily improving. He's really not a bad short-notice opponent.

Kadiru is clearly better than age 40 Joyce (who was knocked down by shot Chisora, who then lost to a faded Wilder).

Are you arguing that losses to Zhilei Zhang, Derek Chisora and Filip Hrgovic mean Joe Joyce would now lose to every heavyweight competing today, including Peter Kadiru?

I agree that a fighter, such as Joyce, with one win and four losses in the last 3½ years does not deserve a world heavyweight title shot.

But what has Peter Kadiru actually achieved as an amateur or professional?

Joyce has beaten Joseph Parker, Daniel Dubois, Carlos Takam, Bryant Jennings, Christian Hammer, Bermane Stiverne and Aleksandr Ustinov — all world-level or fringe world-level heavyweights. For sure, some of these fighters were past-their-primes when Joyce faced them.

His fights with Hrgovic and Chisora were also competitive.

Has Kadiru faced anyone comparable with those names?

As far as I can tell, Kadiru’s best wins are Senad Gashi, Victor Emilio Ramirez, Mauricio Barragan and Jakub Sosinski. None have been ranked in the world top-20, and Kadiru was once stopped in the first round by a journeyman.

Perkin Warbeck wrote: ↑09 Jul 2026, 11:15

513075 wrote: ↑09 Jul 2026, 11:03 Might have missed it, what time is it going to air in America?

The card will start very early, about 10 AM Eastern and about 7 AM Pacific. The main event will likely be around 2 PM Eastern and about 11 AM Pacific. Russian events don't have the annoying long delays between fights that are typical of German events.

It will be on YouTube and DAZN. There will be 8 fights, all tough matchups, with the opponents for the prospects having winning records and being better than we typically see on Queensberry, Matchroom and Top Rank cards.

Thank you for the info, I will try to catch some fights!

Fight Night!

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑11 Jul 2026, 08:00 Fight Night!

Do you have any idea what time the main event should start??

tiny_acres wrote: ↑11 Jul 2026, 08:03

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑11 Jul 2026, 08:00 Fight Night!

Do you have any idea what time the main event should start??

I think it will be 9 p.m. UK

Gassiev tipped the scales at 104.2 kilograms (229.7 pounds), while Kadiru weighed 116.7 kilograms (257.3 pounds)

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑11 Jul 2026, 08:15

tiny_acres wrote: ↑11 Jul 2026, 08:03

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑11 Jul 2026, 08:00 Fight Night!

Do you have any idea what time the main event should start??

I think it will be 9 p.m. UK

Thank you

Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑11 Jul 2026, 08:16 Gassiev tipped the scales at 104.2 kilograms (229.7 pounds), while Kadiru weighed 116.7 kilograms (257.3 pounds)

That's Kadiru's heaviest ever by quite a bit

unsure about start time. it said 6 pm UK in one place, but 7:30 pm as well