Rebuilding Murat Gassiev stops Kem Ljungquist in five

Murat Gassiev recorded his first victory since March 2023 when he stopped the previously undefeated Kem Ljungquist in five rounds at the Karen Demirchyan Sports Complex in Yerevan, Armenia.

Fighting at heavyweight, the former cruiserweight world champion, 31 years old and 31-2, bounced back from losing via split decision to Otto Wallin in September 2023 by defeating Ljungquist, 18-1, in a fight that was postponed for a week because Gassiev reportedly struggled to secure a visa to fight in Vienna, Austria.

A tense, close affair involved the taller Ljungquist boxing well behind his jab from his southpaw stance and the heavy-handed Gassiev looking for openings. 

In the fifth round Gassiev found an opening and, after working the Dane over with a varied attack, he closed the fight with a left hook to the body and watched Ljunquist, 34, go down and out.

In Oleksandr Usyk and Wallin, Gassiev had previously lost only to southpaws. Ljungquist can be expected to return to Denmark to rebuild.