July 11 (Reuters) - ⁠Russia's Murat Gassiev retained his ⁠WBA heavyweight title after stopping ‌Germany's Peter Kadiru in the sixth round in Moscow on Saturday.

Kadiru's corner threw ​in the towel at ⁠the VTB ⁠Arena with the German being pummelled on ⁠the ‌ropes as Gassiev took his record to ⁠34 wins and two defeats.

The German, ​who ‌now has a record of two ⁠defeats ​in 25 fights, was a late replacement for French heavyweight Tony ⁠Yoka who pulled out ​last week with a back injury.

Gassiev, 32, won the secondary WBA "regular" ⁠title last December when he beat Bulgaria's Kubrat Pulev and became the WBA's top ranked heavyweight ​after "super champion" Oleksandr ⁠Usyk relinquished his belts and fragmented ​the division.

Saturday was ‌Gassiev's first title defence.

(Reporting ​by Alan Baldwin in London; Editing by Alistair Bell)