MOSCOW: Russia’s Murat Gassiev retained his WBA heavyweight title after stopping Germany’s Peter Kadiru in the sixth round in Moscow on Saturday.

Kadiru’s corner threw in the towel at the VTB Arena with the German being pummelled on the ropes as Gassiev took his record to 34 wins and two defeats.

The German, who now has a record of two defeats in 25 fights, was a late replacement for French heavyweight Tony Yoka who pulled out last week with a back injury.

Gassiev, 32, won the secondary WBA “regular” title last December when he beat Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev and became the WBA’s top ranked heavyweight after “super champion” Oleksandr Usyk relinquished his belts and fragmented the division.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2026