Gassiev says he does not know if Fury v Joshua will be for his WBA 'Super' belt
Murat Gassiev says he does not know whether the WBA 'Super' heavyweight title he holds will be at stake when Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua meet in Cardiff on 11 December. He told ESPN he currently has no clear information about the situation.
Gassiev moved to heavyweight in 2020 and has eight wins in nine fights in the division. He had been the WBA 'Regular' champion since 2025 and was upgraded to 'Super' champion in July when Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title. The WBA recognise their 'Super' champion as the full titleholder while the 'Regular' belt is often considered the leading challenger; boxing’s four major world titles are the WBA 'Super', the IBF, the WBC and the WBO.
"[The] WBA give me big surprise about my belt. But in press conference when AJ and Fury have face off, I see only Ring Magazine belt, no WBA belt," Gassiev said.
It had been reported that the Fury-Joshua bout would be for the WBA belt Gassiev currently holds. Gassiev remains listed on the WBA's website as their reigning champion. On that listing Fury is ranked number two behind American Jarrell Miller, with Joshua at three.
Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are both two-time heavyweight world champions. They held a launch news conference last week in London and are due to meet at Cardiff's Principality Stadium after a decade-long effort to arrange the fight. WBO world champion Daniel Dubois, who has a knockout win over Joshua, said: "It doesn't seem like it has that same edge to it, if it happened years ago," adding, "They missed the fire and the edge. But I am sure it will be a great fight regardless."
"And to be honest right now, I don't have clear information about this situation. I don't know. Fight for 'Super' belt, another belt, I don't know. I check my email. I don't have any messages, any papers, but I'm not manager, promoter [or] lawyer. I'm fighter. I do my job, that's it," Gassiev said. The Fury–Joshua fight is scheduled for 11 December at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.