We get a 200-pound world title eliminator with the return of Toe-to-Toe Tuesdays on Fox Sports 1 tonight when unbeaten Murat Gassiev (22-0, 17 KOs) takes on Jordan Shimmell (20-1, 16 KOs) with a shot at the title on the line. The Black Bear Casino Resort in Carlton, Minn. will host the fight for Premier Boxing Champions.
The winner of this fight will fight the winner of the unification bout between Denis Lebedev and Victor Emilio Ramirez in Moscow.
Fox Sports 1 has two hours set aside for the show so we’ll likely get at least one undercard. It looks like that will be a six-round heavyweight fight between Stephan Shaw (6-0, 5 KOs) and Danny Kelly (9-2-1, 8 KOs) in what will serve as an introduction for Shaw to a national audience.
As always, scroll on down for the live blog. Keep reading for the press release from PBC.
Murat Gassiev and Jordan Shimmell have combined to stop 32 of their 44 opponents, but don’t expect their 200-pound title elimination bout Tuesday to turn into an all-out slugfest.
Despite both boxers possessing plenty of knockout power, the Gassiev-Shimmell bout, which headlines a Toe-to-Toe Tuesdays card from Black Bear Casino Resort in Carlton, Minnesota (Fox Sports 1, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT), could hinge on which man shows the most smarts in the ring.
“I’m not sure that Jordan has to stand toe-to-toe [to beat Gassiev]. Will there be times that he might do it? Yeah,” said Dennis Shimmell, Jordan’s father and trainer. “Jordan does hit hard and he can surprise Gassiev when he lands some big punches, but Jordan’s a good boxer with good speed.
“We’ve got to box Gassiev and stay off the ropes, because he’s pretty strong and he hits hard and can be vicious when he gets you on the ropes. I don’t think trading with this guy is the smartest move on anyone’s part.”
The Gassiev-Shimmell winner will become the mandatory challenger to fight the winner of Saturday’s title unification bout in Moscow between 200-pound champions Denis Lebedev and Victor Emilio Ramirez.
With so much at stake Tuesday night, Jordan Shimmell (20-1, 16 KOs) knows he must fight intelligently to defeat Murat Gassiev (22-0, 16 KOs), a 22-year-old Russian who hasn’t gone the distance since earning a 12-round unanimous decision over Ismail Abdoul in February 2014.
“I would say that Murat is the most dangerous fighter that I will have faced to date. Obviously he has power, so I’m not going to sit there and try to trade with him,” said Shimmell, who weighed in for the fight Monday at 196 pounds, while Gassiev came in at 199.2.
“Although I’ve been hit with some shots and I know I can take it, the name of the game is to hit and try not to get hit. I’m looking forward to making this just another day at the office. I’m looking forward to this being my redemption.”
Shimmell, 27, was outboxed in his lone loss in July, when he dropped a 10-round unanimous decision to southpaw Isiah Thomas despite being the aggressor for most of the fight.
Thomas then fought Gassiev in December, with the bout ending in a no contest when Thomas was unable to continue after Gassiev punched him after the bell ended the third round.
The show is on Fox Sports 1 at 9 p.m. Let’s watch some faces get mashed together.
