More than a month after defending the title he captured from Kubrat Pulev, Gassiev has returned to Vladikavkaz following almost five months away from home.
For now, training can wait.
“At the moment, I do not have any information about my next fight,” Gassiev said. “Negotiations are taking place, and different options and opponents are being considered. I am resting now and completely switched off from boxing.”
Chisora presents the more complicated proposition. Gassiev considers the British veteran a friend and refuses to take his social-media provocations seriously, viewing them as part of Chisora’s familiar approach to selling fights.
He does not share that approach.
“Personally, I do not welcome it. I have never behaved that way; I prefer to show everything in the ring.”
Friendship, however, has not completely closed the door on a fight.
Gassiev said he would consider Chisora if the bout made sense for his career and received his team’s backing. He still views the 42-year-old as dangerous despite the mileage accumulated over a long heavyweight career.
Miller has tried a different route.
The American has targeted Gassiev through satirical posts, but the former cruiserweight champion insists the bait has failed. He views Miller’s comments as an attempt to generate attention rather than something worth answering.
“I can say with complete confidence that I have never fallen for those provocations and I never will. They do not throw me off balance.”
Gassiev’s assessment of heavyweight boxing helps explain that restraint. At more than 100 kilograms, he argues, any opponent possesses enough power to punish a mistake. That demands serious preparation rather than social-media exchanges.
His comments became sharper when the conversation moved to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
Gassiev believes the long-discussed British showdown has lost some of the sporting significance it would have carried several years ago.
“Joshua and Fury are five years late with this fight. It would have been much more interesting earlier.”
He would still watch and believes a British fight could fill Wembley, but he sees both men much further along in their careers than when the rivalry first demanded resolution.
Gassiev was even less generous when comparing today’s heavyweights with Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. In his view, only a small number of the current generation could have competed successfully with the leading fighters of that period.
His broader point about the division remains difficult to dispute: heavyweight plans can disappear with one clean punch.
Gassiev experienced enough elite-level boxing at cruiserweight to understand that distinction. His immediate concern now is simpler. Rest first. Wait for a name. Then start camp.
Chisora remains possible and Miller can keep talking. Gassiev’s next decision will be made by the value of the fight, not the volume of the provocation.
