Oleksandr Usyk vs. Mairis Briedis

Boxing match

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Mairis Briedis
Date27 January 2018
VenueArēna Rīga, Riga, Latvia
Title(s) on the lineWBC and WBO cruiserweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk Latvia Mairis Briedis
Nickname "The Cat" "The Latvian Punisher"
Hometown Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine Riga, Latvia
Pre-fight record 13–0 (11 KO) 23–0 (18 KO)
Age 31 years 33 years
Height 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) 6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight 199.3 lb (90 kg) 199.1 lb (90 kg)
Style Southpaw Orthodox
Recognition WBO
Cruiserweight Champion
The Ring/TBRB
No. 1 Ranked Cruiserweight		 WBC
Cruiserweight Champion
The Ring
No. 3 Ranked Cruiserweight
TBRB
No. 6 Ranked Cruiserweight
Result
Usyk defeats Briedis via MD (115–113, 114–114, 115–113)

Oleksandr Usyk vs. Mairis Briedis was a professional boxing match contested on 27 January 2018, for the WBC and WBO cruiserweight championship.[1]

Background

Following their respective September 2017 quarter final victories against Marco Huck and Mike Perez, it was reported the WBSS semi final between Oleksandr Usyk and Mairis Briedis would take place on 27 January 2018 in Riga, Latvia, a week before Murat Gassiev vs. Yuniel Dorticos.[2][3][4] Arēna Rīga was confirmed as the location by Kalle Sauerland in early December.[5]

Usyk came in at 199.5 pounds and Briedis weighed 199.1 pounds.[6]

The fight

With a high work rate, Usyk controlled most of the fight with his jab, putting on pressure when needed. Briedis was credited with landing the harder punches. The opening four rounds where closely contested and Usyk was cut from a head-butt over his right eye in round three. From round five, Usyk became busier and took control of the fight, although he was still hit with some hard shots to the head from Briedis. One judge scored the fight 114–114, whilst the remaining two judges scored the fight 115–113 in favour of Usyk making him the unified cruiserweight champion.[7]

According to CompuBox stats, Usyk landed 212 of 848 punches thrown (25%) and Briedis was more accurate, landing 195 of his 579 thrown (33.7%).[8]

Aftermath

After the fight, Usyk stated it was the hardest fight of his career, saying "Those are the most difficult rounds I've had in my career, and we will work on the improvement of my style".[9][10]

Many boxers and pundits praised the fight.[11]

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:[12]

Broadcasting

Country Broadcaster
Baltic & Nordic countries Viasat[13]
 Belgium VOO[14]
 Bulgaria Nova
 Canada Super Channel
 Germany SAT.1
 Russia Match! Boets[15]
 Singapore StarHub
Sub-Saharan Africa TVMS
 Turkey Tivibu Sports[16]
 United Kingdom ITV
 United States Audience[17]
 Ukraine Inter

References

  1. ^ "Oleksandr Usyk vs. Mairis Briedis". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Usyk vs Briedis fight may happen on January 20". ringside24.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  3. ^ "Briedis: I would like to fight Usyk in Riga". ringside24.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Gassiev-Dorticos & Usyk-Briedis WBSS semifinal dates » Boxing News". Boxing News 24. 26 November 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  5. ^ Briedis, Usyk v. "Usyk v Briedis unification / WBSS semi-final set for Riga on Jan 27". WBN - World Boxing News. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Photos: Usyk, Briedis Ready For WBSS Unification Showdown". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  7. ^ Nick Parkinson (27 January 2018). "Oleksandr Usyk gets majority win vs. Mairis Briedis, inches closer to undisputed world cruiserweight title". espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Usyk vs. Briedis - CompuBox Punch Stats". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  9. ^ "Usyk Decisions Briedis in Tough Fight To Unify WBC, WBO Titles". BoxingScene.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  10. ^ Tim Hobbs (28 January 2018). "World Boxing Super Series: Oleksandr Usyk beats Mairis Briedis on points in semi-final". skysports.com. Sky Sports. Retrieved 25 August 2024.
  11. ^ "People Were Very Impressed With Usyk vs Briedis World Title Fight". Boxing News and Views. 28 January 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  12. ^ "BoxRec - event".
  13. ^ "MTG will be the exclusive home of the World Boxing Super Series in the Nordic and Baltic regions". europawire.eu. EuropaWire. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  14. ^ "TV PARTNERS". worldboxingsuperseries.com. World Boxing Super Series. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  15. ^ Andrew Karlov (14 October 2017). "Groves vs Cox. Where to watch live". ringside24.com. Ringside24.com. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  16. ^ WBN Staff (9 September 2017). "WBSS agree further European media rights deals". worldboxingnews.net. World Boxing News. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
  17. ^ Dan Rafael (28 September 2017). "World Boxing Super Series finds U.S. distribution for quarterfinals". espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 19 April 2024.
Preceded by Oleksandr Usyk's bouts
27 January 2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Mairis Briedis's bouts
27 January 2018 		Succeeded by
vs. Brandon Deslaurier