Gassiev (33-2, 26 KOs) won the WBA "regular" heavyweight title in December when he stopped former holder Kubrat Pulev with a crunching left hook in the sixth round in Dubai.

The 32-year-old has been back in training for the past month with a view to making the first defense of the strap in June or July. Itauma, The Ring’s No. 7 heavyweight, is currently the mandatory challenger for Gassiev’s belt.



Itauma’s handlers at Queensberry have struggled to secure opponents for the fast-rising star, but Gassiev says they do not need to look any further than him.

“Of course I would fight him,” the Russian told The Ring. “Why not? I am the champion, here is a challenger.



“Me and all the other real fighters are here for real fights. I never run from anyone, I’m ready for anybody, anywhere. All I need is an opponent, a referee, my team and I’m ready to go.”

Gassiev has emerged as a heavyweight road warrior with his last seven fights taking place in six different countries. But while that tour took in Dubai, USA, Armenia, Turkey, Russia and Serbia, he has never boxed in the UK. But he's ready to pack his bags for England to face Itauma in his first defense.



“I would love to have that fight in the UK because it's a dream of mine to have a fight there,” he said. “I love the UK, the boxing fans there, the atmosphere. 


“I want to experience everything there, your people, your food, your mentality and I also want to go and watch soccer. I support Real Madrid but I’d love to watch Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, all the big names.”



First, Itauma (13-0, 11 KOs) has to take care of Jermaine Franklin when they meet at Manchester’s Co-op Live Arena on March 28.
The pair had been scheduled to fight in January but a biceps injury for Itauma forced a two-month postponement. Itauma is an overwhelming favorite to dispatch durable Franklin (24-2, 15 KOs) in style, but Gassiev is not sure it will be so straightforward.

“I don’t know what will happen in this fight because Franklin is not an easy opponent,” he said. 
“He has good boxing skill. He's not a fake fighter, he's a real fighter and for sure he'll give a very hard fight for Moses.”

On the 21-year-old from Chatham, Kent, Gassiev added: “I haven’t watched a lot of his fights, only some short videos and highlights.



“But I know he's a young fighter who is very talented and strong with good power. He has a good future because he has a good promoter, a good team and a good coach. We'll see what happens.


“Is it too soon for him to fight me? We can only answer this after the fight. Mike Tyson became champion when he was very young so you never know. Only after the fight we can say if it’s too early or too late.”