By Yuri Tarantin

On December 3 in Moscow at the Sports Palace "Megasport" Khodynka, World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) cruiserweight champion Denis Lebedev will defend his titles in a fight with undefeated compatriot Murat Gassiev.

Lebedev returns from his big win in May, when he unified the WBA/IBF titles with a rapid knockout of Argentinean Victor Ramirez. The victory raised Denis' record to 29 wins, 2 defeats and 22 of his wins by knockout.

The 23-year-old opponent of Lebedev - Gassiev (23-0, 17KOs) - is the mandatory challenger under the IBF - which gave Lebedev no choice in the matter but to accept the fight.

Lebedev is trained by Hall of Fame coach Freddie Roach and Gassiev has another formidable trainer in his corner, Abel Sanchez.

If Lebedev had his way, he would have avoided the possibility of facing Gassiev. He doesn't like the idea of having to fight one of his countrymen - especially one who is young and making a name for himself in the country.

"To be honest, I really did not want to fight him. There are a lot of other fighters around who I wouldn't mind entering the ring against. Instead, I have to fight with my compatriot. But this is life, this is boxing and there's no getting around it. Eventually Gassiev became the mandatory challenger for my belt, and according to the rules I have to give him a chance to win it," Lebedev said.

"I got together with my coaching staff and watched a lot of his fights. This is a fairly tall boxer with long arms, and that will certainly help him in his work at a distance. It is worth mentioning that Gassiev is very young. Freshness and speed have their unquestionable advantages."

"Over the years, you become wiser, smarter and more experienced. Besides, I can not say that at 37 I lost any speed. I am trained by one of the best teachers of our time - Freddie Roach. A man who worked with Klitschko, James Toney, Bernard Hopkins, Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao. He knows his business. During the time I've spent training with him, I've seen the results and he saw how I've grown as a boxer."

"I will achieve the desired goal of a knockout or winning on points - it does not matter. The main thing is that I will make every effort to keep the world title belt."

Yuri Tarantin covers boxing for Allboxing,ru