Murat Gassiev (24-0, 17 KOs) outpointed defending champion Denis Lebedev (29-3, 22 KOs) to win the IBF cruiserweight title on Saturday night at the MegaSport Arena in Moscow, Russia.
The Russian fighter won a 12-round split decision over countryman Lebedev, as the judges scored the bout 116-112, 116-111 for Gassiev, while the third had it 114-113 in favor of Lebedev.
Southpaw Lebedev was busier, but Gassiev landed the harder shots, dropping Lebedev with a body shot in the fifth and marking him…