Johnson out, Seferi in against Gassiev on Oct. 31

Photo credit should read OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images

Seferi faced Tyson Fury in the latter’s 2018 return from hiatus

Murat Gassiev’s eternally cursed heavyweight debut has received another blow. Instead of facing durable veteran Kevin Johnson, he’ll instead take on Sefer Seferi on October 31st in Sochi.

You may recall Albania’s Seferi (24-3-1, 22 KO) as the career cruiserweight who welcomed Tyson Fury back to the ring in 2018 and bowed out after four one-sided rounds. He’s since drawn with a 48-year-old Firat Arslan, been stopped in three by Kevin Lerena, and finished <.500 Hungarian Laszlo Ivanyi. He’s infinitely less interesting a foe than Johnson, who’s at least plenty durable and a natural heavyweight. Plus, crushing Yoan Pablo Hernandez this year is more impressive than anything Seferi’s ever done.

Still, if it means finally getting to see Gassiev (26-1, 19 KO) in action again, I suppose we can stomach it. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of “Iron” since his 2018 loss to Oleksandr Usyk, as he’s seen multiple fights fall through.