Former contender for the world heavyweight title Chris Arreola spoke about sparring with the now unified cruiserweight champion Murat Gassiev. According to Arreola, the Russians had the strongest punch among all his sparring partners.
"I would say that in my fights Vitali Klitschko had the strongest punch. He's just real puncher. As for sparring, Murat had the heaviest punch. This guy is fucking strong. I saw his blows, and said to myself "no", and then - boom! - that's all. The craziest thing is that you see these blows, but you cannot avoid them. And they really hurt," said Arreola.