A showdown vs. 20 year-old Moses Itauma could rest in the balance when Kubrat Pulev defends his WBA regular heavyweight title against Murat Gassiev on Friday, live on DAZN. The winner of the matchup at Duty Free Tennis Stadium in Dubai could very likely advance to face Itauma as long as the young knockout artist defeats Jermaine Franklin on January 24th, also live on DAZN. Pulev (32-3, 14 KOs) earned the WBA regular title with a points victory over Mahmoud Charr in December 2024, while Gassiev (32-2, 25 KOs) last generated a stoppage win over Jeremiah Milton in August. With the stakes high, DAZN News analyzes the keys to victory for both the champ Pulev and challenger Gassiev heading into Friday's fight.

 

Kubrat Pulev’s Keys to Victory

 

Establish the jab, split Gassiev’s guard

 

Kubrat Pulev stands 6’4½” with 79½ inches of reach. Using those attributes to establish and impose his jab on Murat Gassiev (6’2½” with 76 inches of reach) is an essential key to victory for the Bulgarian. Keeping Gassiev at bay as much as possible will allow Pulev to methodically pluck away at the Russian from the outside, while also possibly hindering some of the challenger’s movement. Once Pulev finds his range with the stick, using it to then split Gassiev’s guard consistently will only better the champ’s chances to retain his title that much more.

 

Slow the fight down, punch in the clinch

 

At 44 years old to Gassiev’s 32, Pulev just does not possess the hand speed of his younger opponent. Nor the movement. Therefore, it would be wise for Pulev to grind Gassiev down into a slower-paced fight. Pulev can achieve this by resorting to the clinch and punching while in the hold when deemed necessary. In addition to his blows in the clinch taking a toll on Gassiev, they might work to sap some of the Russian’s movement and punch volume as well.

 

Launch the uppercut

 

Gassiev has a penchant for hunching over too much while stalking off the front foot. Oleksandr Usyk caught onto this tendency and made the Russian pay with crushing uppercuts in their 2018 fight. And although Gassiev has improved in this area of his fight game, he still reverts to this habit quite a bit.

 

Pulev, who stands 1½ inches taller with a reach advantage of the same amount over Usyk, has the skills to exploit Gassiev with the uppercut. It will come down to Pulev launching the weapon with timing.

 

Murat Gassiev’s Keys to Victory

 

Change levels

 

Watching Gassiev maneuver around the ring, and it is evident that he is pretty effective at changing levels to detonate and land his targets. Doing this against a hulking — and significantly older — Pulev could be a major key in freezing the champion out and leaving him ripe for the picking with a fight-altering shot.

 

It should start on the feet with Gassiev.

 

Make hard deposits to the body

 

While changing levels, Gassiev rattles opponents with pounding body shots that he is often deceptively unloading. It is the norm for the Russian to throw a hard distraction punch upstairs, knowing opponents will parry it, only to piece together a rapid, crunching combination to the body. The speed and power of these body shots could debilitate the champ and leave him compromised for more significant damage ahead.

 

Turn the volume way up with hand speed

 

As aforementioned, Pulev just does not have the hand speed that Gassiev does.

 

It only behooves Gassiev to use this speed and power to drown Pulev out with volume.

 

Being the aggressor with the higher output could be enough to overwhelm Pulev in Dubai and take the Bulgarian’s title, seeing how the Itauma-Franklin bout plays out in the New Year next.