MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. Former world cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev of Russia, who is now campaigning at heavyweight, won his third heavyweight bout and won the title of champion of the Eurasian Boxing Parliament (EPB). In a ten-round bout held in Belgrade on Saturday, he defeated American Carlouse Welch by technical knockout in the first round.

The rivals started the fight at a low pace, occasionally exchanging blows. Gassiev landed more punches, but rather marked attacks without investing in them, and the American was more focused on defense. After the first minute, the Russian struck the first really strong blow - the right side, after which Welch fell to the floor of the ring. The American stood up in ten seconds, and the referee was ready to continue the fight, but Welch showed him that he was refusing to continue the fight, and went to his corner.

Initially, Gassiev was supposed to fight on December 25 last year in Sochi against the Ukrainian Andrey Rudenko, but he suffered a hand injury and was forced to withdraw from the fight.

Gassiev made his first heavyweight fight in October 2020, defeating Albanian Nuri Seferi by knockout in the first round. The last time before that, the Russian entered the ring in July 2018 in the final of the World Boxing Super Series against the Ukrainian Aleksandr Usyk, then the Russian boxer lost by unanimous decision. After that, Gassiev announced the transition to the heavyweight category, but injuries and postponements of the fight prevented the athlete from making his debut, and he was forced to miss more than two years.

In his second heavyweight bout, the Russian defeated German Michael Wallisch by technical knockout in the fourth round in June 2021.

28-year-old Gassiev has the 29th victory (22 by knockout) with one defeat. In 2016, he won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) world heavyweight title by defeating compatriot Denis Lebedev, then defended the belt once. In 2018, Gassiev added the WBA belt to the IBF title by defeating Cuban Yuniel Dorticos. After losing to Usyk, the Russian lost two world titles.

The 42-year-old Welch has 21 wins (18 by knockout), 3 defeats, 1 draw. He made his professional boxing debut in 2017 at the age of 37. He had only three fights in the US, mainly performing in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama.