Gassiev Wants the Fury-Joshua Winner — and the WBA Has a Title Problem
GOATIFYMurat Gassiev has a straightforward request for boxing's governing bodies: if Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua are allowed to fight for the WBA's leading heavyweight title in December, the winner should have to face him next. The former unified cruiserweight champion believes his own place in the heavyweight championship picture has become unnecessarily uncertain since Oleksandr Usyk vacated the belt.
Gassiev is not claiming that a fight with the Cardiff winner has been ordered. He is asking for it. That distinction matters because the disagreement concerns more than who gets to wear a belt at a press conference. It affects the order of challengers, the value of a championship already defended in the ring and whether the division's most marketable fight can determine its next mandatory opponent.
Why Gassiev says the WBA title hierarchy no longer makes sense
The dispute begins with the WBA's two-tier heavyweight structure. Gassiev held the organisation's secondary, or 'regular', title when Usyk relinquished the higher-status championship. Gassiev expected that vacancy to move him into the position of full champion. Instead, reports now indicate that the December 11 meeting between Fury and Joshua could be sanctioned for the 'super' belt, leaving Gassiev in the secondary position.
Gassiev has described the sequence as confusing rather than treating it as a personal feud. He believed he had been elevated, then found himself described as the regular champion again. He has made clear that his representatives are speaking with the WBA while he continues training. The organisation's formal position and any mandatory order are more important than the labels appearing in promotional material; until those are settled, no challenger should be presented as having a guaranteed shot.
There is a sporting case behind his frustration. Gassiev stopped Kubrat Pulev in December 2025 and defended his heavyweight belt against Peter Kadiru in Moscow in July 2026. Kadiru entered on short notice after Tony Yoka withdrew, and Gassiev forced a sixth-round stoppage when the challenger's corner intervened. It was not a win over the division's biggest commercial attraction, but it was an actual championship defence by a fighter who had already unified titles at cruiserweight.
That background makes the WBA distinction consequential. A regular champion can have a strong claim to a title opportunity without automatically possessing the same status as the organisation's recognised primary champion. Fury and Joshua are former world champions with a huge event scheduled, but neither arrives as the current holder of Gassiev's belt. The question is how the WBA reconciles the market value of Cardiff with the hierarchy it has created for its existing titleholder.
A mandatory shot sounds simple — until Chisora and the rankings enter the picture
Gassiev's preferred remedy is not to cancel Fury against Joshua. He wants the victor to meet him in a mandatory defence. He has spoken respectfully about both British heavyweights and predicted that Fury could win on points while Joshua's best route is a knockout. Those are his views, not a forecast from the WBA or evidence that the winner has accepted a second bout.
A mandatory designation would change the negotiations. It would give Gassiev a defined position in the title queue rather than leaving him to compete for attention with the next voluntary challenger. But a governing body would still have to issue the order, set the relevant terms and determine how the other contenders fit into the rankings. Jarrell Miller has also been prominent in the WBA's heavyweight contender picture, another reason not to confuse Gassiev's demand with an already confirmed booking.
The calendar is complicated further by Derek Chisora's announcement that he intends to return in December and fight Gassiev. Chisora had previously presented his April defeat to Deontay Wilder as the end of his career, then publicly reversed course. Gassiev's camp has not confirmed a final agreement for that matchup, and the fighter himself has questioned whether Chisora's ranking would make it possible. A public announcement and a contracted, sanctioned championship contest are different things.
For Gassiev, the immediate choice is between waiting for the Cardiff outcome and pursuing another fight that keeps him active. He has said his focus is training rather than promotional paperwork. For Fury and Joshua, the title question could add a genuine competitive consequence to a contest already enormous because of the rivalry, the audience and the years spent trying to arrange it. A belt is most meaningful when it establishes an obligation to face the next credible opponent.
The stakes are also reputational for the WBA. If its regular champion can win and defend a title, believe he has been promoted after a vacancy, and then watch two other contenders compete for the higher designation, the organisation owes fighters and fans a transparent explanation. Gassiev may ultimately receive the mandatory position he wants. Until that decision is official, however, the only confirmed immediate fight among the principals is Fury versus Joshua in Cardiff on December 11.
Gassiev is not trying to steal the spotlight from Fury and Joshua; he is trying to make sure the spotlight produces a clear next challenger. His July defence gives the complaint substance, while his proposed mandatory shot remains a request rather than a ruling. Boxing's heavyweight division would benefit from a simple answer: who holds the WBA's primary belt now, what happens to Gassiev's existing title, and what obligation will the Cardiff winner actually inherit?
