Murat Gassiev flattens Kubrat Pulev with brutal one-punch knockout

Murat Gassiev claimed his biggest scalp in the heavyweight division courtesy of a thunderous knockout of Kubrat Pulev.

Gassiev unleashed a thudding left hook that slept Pulev in the sixth round.

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Pulev fired off a tired one-two combo, which Gassiev read well.

But when Pulev went to throw the same combination again, Gassiev came prepared and timed his left hand to perfection.

The thudding punch left Pulev flat on his back and although he did his utmost to regain his footing, he failed to beat the count.

Gassiev’s knockout blow marked a major turnaround in the contest for the 32-year-old.

Despite being 12 years older than his rival, it was Pulev who looked to be in the ascendancy throughout the earlier rounds.

Although Pulev wasn’t throwing massively, he continually scored with his jab as Gassiev looked content to let his rival expend his energy.

It proved to be a wise tactic as Gassiev began to ramp up the intensity in the fifth before he landed the final blow in the following round.

The defeat marked the first time Pulev had been knocked out since December 2012, when he was stopped by British superstar Anthony Joshua in the ninth round of their heavyweight bout.

Pulev’s loss also meant he relinquished control of his WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight crown to Gassiev.

As for Gassiev, the victory was his seventh since moving up to the heavyweight division from the cruiserweights.

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Not only that, it continued his trend of stopping each and every one of his heavyweight rivals that he has beaten.

The only blemish on his record in the heavyweight division came courtesy of Sweden’s Otto Wallin, who edged him in a split decision result in September 2023.

Gassiev’s move to the heavyweights came after he was comprehensively out-pointed by Oleksandr Usyk in July 2018 when they fought for the undisputed cruiserweight championship crown.

But Gassiev’s win may have put him on a collision course with his former adversary given Usyk holds the WBA ‘super’ heavyweight championship.

Gassiev’s victory improved his record to 33-2, with 26 of his wins coming via knockout.

As for Pulev, he now sits at 32-4.