MURAT GASSIEV STOPS PETER KADIRU IN ROUND 6, RETAINS WBA HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE IN FIRST DEFENSE
By Real Combat Media Boxing Editorial Staff
Moscow, Russia (July 13th, 2026)– In two bizarre DAZN heavyweight endings reminiscent of Roberto Duran’s famous ‘No Mas’ surrender midway through his first rematch in the eighth round of his World Boxing Council World Welterweight title rematch against Sugar Ray Leonard at the New Orleans Superdome in November 1980, Peter Kadiru and Joe Joyce appeared to give up during their heavyweight contests at VTB Arena in Moscow, Russian Federation, on Saturday night, July 11, 2026, sparking controversy in the two main event bouts of a nine bout card featuring eight unbeaten Russian prospects and one Russian professional debut.
In the main event, Peter Kadiru, age 29, 23-2 with 13 knockouts, Hamburg, Germany, a late substitute for Tony Yoka, simply appeared to simply stop fighting during the sixth round of his scheduled 12 round World Boxing Association regular World Heavyweight title challenge against Murat ‘Iron’ Gassiev, age 32, 34-2 with 27 knockouts, Vladikavkaz, Russian Federation, Gassiev was winning every round. Gassiev used pinpoint body shots and long mauling overhand power shots to dominate the action, while maintaining a high guard. Kadiru tried counterpunching, but most of his punches were slipped or blocked by Gassiev, who also used effective short combinations and was careful to pace himself without punching himself out. Gassiev, at 229 ¾ pounds, had more life on his feet than Kadiru at 257 ½ pounds. Both Kadiru and Joy Joyce, in the bout that preceded his, proved that carrying the extra weight was a burden as rounds progressed.
Gassiev was notably busier with come-forward pressure, with Kadiru playing the part of a punching bag on the ropes for much of the bout. Gassiev worked patiently and methodically. The end came at the one-minute mark of the sixth round when Kadiru, covering in his own corner, took nine head shots but did not fight back. It was as if Kadiru has given up in the face of the inevitable. While covering to block the shots, Kadiru had no real counter plan for the second half of the bout in front of him, prompting his corner to wave the towel, forcing referee Gustavo Padilla to stop the contest. Kadiru was standing in his corner, simply taking a beating, having accepted defeat in the WBA heavyweight title bout. The bout was a good argument not to take last-minute world heavyweight title bouts, no matter what physical condition the challenger is in. Tim Tomashek learned this when he came out of the audience to challenge Tommy Morrison at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, taking a pounding from Tommy Morrison for four rounds when the scheduled challenger, Mike Williams, refused to leave the dressing room. This sort of late substitute mentality in a world title bout is not a viable option.
In the preliminary bout to the main event, Joe ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce, age 40, 16-5 with 15 knockouts, London, United Kingdom, a loser of five of his last six bouts, lost to father time and himself when he quiz in the eleventh round of a scheduled 12 rounds heavyweight contest against Arten Suslenkov, age 30, 15-0 with 10 knockouts, Volgograd, Russian Federation,
Joyce, 6’6″ and 269 pounds, towered over the 237-pound, 6’1″ Suslenkov. The bout was a reverse result of Alexander Povetkin versus Wladimir Klitschko, with Joyce looking tired and old, and lacking power. Joyce hung in there for much of the bout, outworked by the short fighter Suslenkov’s combinations and hand speed. Joyce tried combinations in the center ring for much of the bout, but got outworked on the punch count, and lacked his previous knockout power. The big question is why Joyce and new trainer Sugar Hill would take a bout like this in Russia, in enemy territory, for the money, where he knew he would never get the scorecards. Joyce was considered for Murat Gassiev as the last-minute opponent as well, which would not have gone better for him.
Joyce, whose career low was 250 pounds for his third pro bout, a third-round knockout win over Donnie Palmer in March 2018 at Bethnal Green York Hall in London, in his first bout in 13 months since losing to Filip Hrgovic, showed up at a career high 289 pounds, and lacked speed, power, and maneuverability. At approximately the two-minute mark of round eleven, after taking many power head shots from Suslenkov in combination, Joyce waved his hands in surrender and gave up, mimicking Roberto Duran’s ‘No Mas’ ending of long ago. However, for Joyce, his career had hit the end of the road by his own choice.
Peter Kadiru, whose heavyweight career was exposed by a first-round 56-second knockout loss to Argentinian journeyman Marcos Antonio Aumada in November 2022 in Hamburg, has a career that was going nowhere, exemplified by his being sacrificed by his handlers as an opponent for Gassiev in this loss. Joe Joyce, who turned pro late and whose career is gone, took a money bout for which he appeared to have no motivation and no purpose. Far from home, and far from purpose, when the end came, Joyce conceded his career was over. Far from home, there were no cheers. The only difference between Joyce versus Suslenkov, and Muhammad Ali versus Larry Holmes, is that Joyce came out for the eleventh round and gave up on his feet. It was a bitter ending for the 2016 Olympic silver medalist.
Moscow, Russia (July 11th, 2026)– Murat Gassiev made the first defense of his full WBA heavyweight championship count, breaking down late replacement Peter Kadiru over five rounds before the German’s corner threw in the towel early in round six at VTB Arena. It was a workmanlike, patient demolition by the former unified Russian cruiserweight champion, who now sits at 34-2 (27 KOs) and is firmly in the mix of a heavyweight division still sorting itself out after Oleksandr Usyk’s title vacating.
Kadiru (23-2, 13 KOs) took the fight on roughly five days’ notice after Tony Yoka withdrew with a back injury, and it showed. He never found the range to make Gassiev pay for the step up in class. In the night’s co-feature, fellow Russian Artem Suslenkov added his name to the heavyweight conversation with an 11th-round stoppage of Joe Joyce, who waved off the fight himself rather than absorb more punishment.
Results
WBA Heavyweight World Title: Murat Gassiev def. Peter Kadiru by TKO (corner retirement), Round 6
Heavyweight: Artem Suslenkov def. Joe Joyce by TKO (corner retirement), Round 11
Heavyweight: Arslan Yallyev def. Murad Khalidov by TKO, Round 3
Heavyweight: Muslim Gadzhimagomedov def. Kevin Martinez by TKO (corner stoppage), Round 8
Light Heavyweight: Sharabutdin Ataev def. Jose Uzcategui by unanimous decision (119-109, 119-109, 118-110)
Cruiserweight: David Dzukaev def. Aleksei Egorov by split decision
Super Welterweight: Pavel Sosulin def. Eddy Colmenares by unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Vyacheslav Rogozin def. RV Deniega by unanimous decision
How It Happened
I’ve trained fighters for thirty years, and I stood in the ring myself for a good chunk of years before that, and I’ll tell you straight, this wasn’t a barnburner, it was a clinic. Gassiev spent round one just touching Kadiru’s guard, feeling out range with hooks off both hands, the way a smart veteran does against an opponent he hasn’t shared a ring with. By round two he was comfortable enough to start loading up on the inside, and round three is where the fight actually turned: sustained work to the body and head that had Kadiru backing up and breathing through his mouth. That’s the round I’d point to on film. Body work doesn’t show up on a highlight reel, but it’s the tax that gets collected late, and Gassiev was already cashing the check by round four.
Kadiru had his moment in round five, his best of the fight, for what it’s worth, letting his hands go and mixing in some looks from southpaw. But it was too little, and Gassiev answered by backing him onto the ropes again before the horn. Round six didn’t take long. Gassiev pulled Kadiru’s lead hand down, worked three hard right hooks through the opening, followed with a body shot and a right uppercut, and then let a full combination go that put Kadiru’s corner up on the ring apron, waving the white towel before he had to eat any more of it.
Here’s my only real editorial note on the finish: I was glad to see that towel come in when it did. Kadiru wasn’t defending himself intelligently in that exchange, and I’ve spent enough of the last ten years going through film and research on what repeated, undefended head trauma does to a fighter’s brain long after the record book stops mattering. A corner that pulls a guy out one exchange early instead of one exchange late is doing its job. That’s not a knock on Kadiru’s toughness — he took a very difficult short-notice assignment against a bigger, more experienced puncher, and he was still standing when it ended. That’s more than plenty of levelheaded operators would’ve done in his shoes.
Down in the co-feature, Suslenkov-Joyce told a similar story from a different angle. Joyce, a 2016 Olympic silver medalist with plenty of professional wear on him, took control back into the fight in the middle rounds before Suslenkov’s engine and volume separated them again in round eleven. What stood out to me was Joyce’s own decision to step back and wave off the fight rather than wait for the referee. In a sport still working through what we now understand about cumulative trauma, a veteran fighter making that read on himself, in real time, in the middle of a firefight, is exactly the kind of self-awareness this sport needs more of from fighters, from corners, and from commissions.
What’s Next
Gassiev wasted no time pointing toward his next test, going face-to-face with Derek Chisora immediately after the fight. Chisora, who was ringside and audibly encouraging Kadiru’s corner to pull the plug during the later rounds, has flirted with a comeback since his own loss to Deontay Wilder earlier this year. Whether that fight actually gets made or Gassiev pivots toward one of the other beltholders in a fractured heavyweight picture, the Russian has now won back-to-back heavyweight title fights and looks the part of a full champion, not just an accidental one who inherited a vacated strap.
Watch Post-Fight Coverage:
Murat Gassiev vs. Peter Kadiru | Official Fight Highlights
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