No cruise in a division finally coming of age

THE cruiserweight division, though a necessary addition to the weight categories, has often struggled to compete for attention.

Not any more. Tonight in Sochi IBF champion Murat Gassiev takes on WBA strap holder Yunier Dorticos for the right to fight Oleksandr Usyk in May.

Gassiev (above), who is trained by Abel Sanchez, the man behind Gennady Golovkin’s march through the middleweight division, is at 6ft 3in another big, powerful hitter who, in another era, might have gone up. Right now there is no need.

Sochi will be rammed tonight, as Riga was last week for Usyk’s unification barnburner with Mairis Briedis when they threw the kitchen sink at each other.

And at the 02 in London two unbeaten Brits go at it in the hope of one day cashing in on a division that is finally coming of age.

Olympian Lawrence Okolie had a stellar amateur pedigree and with six KOs in seven fights as a pro is clearly one to watch. Isaac Chamberlain does not have Okolie’s reach, but is not without power, and relies more on skill and variety.

In London, as in Sochi, the clash of styles ensures the cruiserweights will be making the headlines for the second week running.

The division – 14st 4lb (90.7kg) – came into being to bridge the gap between light heavy and the behemoths beginning to dominate the heavyweight scene.