BRIEDIS-USYK
Usyk and Briedis collide in WBSS semifinal that deserves to be seen by all boxing fans, writes Matt Christie
Previewing the brilliant World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight semi-final
THE World Boxing Super Series – which pits eight of the best fighters from the same division in a one-year knockout tournament – was such a grand idea, so ambitious, and so astonishingly lavish, many presumed that something, surely, would go wrong.
Promoters who were not involved, promoters who knew exactly how much a venture like this would cost, and promoters who immediately recognised what a brilliant concept it was, rolled their eyes and smiled in mock despair. “It will never work,” they whispered, hoped and prayed. Because if the WBSS is a soaring success it has the potential, as boxing’s very own Champion’s League, to reshape the sport at the very highest level.
Here we are today, seven months after media from all over the world were flown out to Monaco for the opening draw, with the first round of fights done and dusted, the semi-finals upon us, and nothing has gone wrong yet. But whether or not it will one day become the all-conquering boxing competition, which ensures the best fighters fight the best fighters and the fans get to see the best fights, remains to be seen. While the action so far has delivered in its inaugural year, the lack of widespread exposure has been something of a head-scratcher, due in part to the strict ‘must purchase every bout in series’ rules for buying the television rights and, more pertinently perhaps, the lack of real American talent. Even the obvious standout contest to be created thus far – the all-british super-middleweight humdinger between George Groves and Chris Eubank Jnr in February – is yet to truly crossover even though it’s a supreme matchup that is only a few weeks away.
Before that, Saturday night’s cruiserweight clash that matches the sumptuous talents of southpaw
Oleksandr Usyk against the hard-hitting Maris Briedis is another gem which, despite being eagerly awaited in Briedis’ hometown of Riga, Latvia where it is being staged, is not getting the attention it deserves on a worldwide scale.
Which is a shame, because Briedis and his WBC title going up against Usyk’s WBO strap is arguably the most
THE WBSS CAN HAVE ITS PICK OF THE WORLD’S BEST FIGHTERS EVERY YEAR
important cruiserweight contest since David Haye bombed Enzo Maccarinelli in 2008. Therein lies the beauty of this tournament and illustrates why – if the money men can keep finding the cash to fund it, and the winners are recognised as the undisputed best in their weight class – the WSBB will have its pick of the world’s best fighters, who are generally eager to prove their worth, every single year. By cutting through the politics of the governing bodies, Usyk-briedis is a top class unification showdown between two unbeaten champions and two of the best cruiserweights on the planet, and has been delivered with the minimum of fuss.
Expect some fascinating arguments to ensue in the ring, however.
Briedis, 33 years old and unbeaten in 23 bouts, is the highly-regarded Usyk’s toughest professional assignment yet. But the visiting Ukrainian, 13-0 (11), is the 1/8 favourite with good reason.
Like countryman and former amateur teammate Vasyl Lomachenko, Usyk – now trained by “Hi-tech’s” father, Anatoly – is a multi-talented technician who excels in pretty much every department, has a foreboding watcha-looking-at exterior, and no obvious weakness. The London 2012 heavyweight gold medallist, who defeated the formidable Artur Beterbiev en route to his Olympic triumph and outscored the naturally bigger Joe Joyce in a World Series of Boxing five-rounder the following year, has not met an opponent given even half a chance of beating him as a pro.
And that assumption that he is yet to encounter a true test says it all about the weight of expectation on the Eastern European’s shoulders: Already he has dominated then-unbeaten Krzysztof Glowacki over 12 to win his championship in 2016; the dangerous Thabiso Mchunu was stopped in seven sessions in the same year; US Olympian Michael Hunter was soundly albeit unspectacularly outboxed in his second defence to open his 2017 account; and, in his September WBSS opener, the remnants of Marco Huck were swept aside in 10 one-sided rounds.
Briedis, though, is a dangerous rival and one who carries serious weight behind him. His flirtation with the heavyweight class saw him put thencontender and current WBA secondary titlist Manuel Charr to sleep with one vicious left hook in 2015, and the cruel thrashing of Middlesbrough’s Simon Vallily in 2016 exhibited his rib-smashing panache. Since then, a pair of points victories over the aforementioned Huck and, in his tournament quarter-final, the talented yet under-achieving Mike Perez, highlighted the Latvian’s ability to grind out results against world class opposition.
But it will take more than anything we have seen so far from Briedis to upset the odds, one suspects. Often deliberate with his attacks, the former kickboxer looks likely to find the slick and spiteful skills that Usyk has by the bucket-load too deep to conquer. Nonetheless, expect an engrossing encounter in the early rounds, before Usyk – rat-a-tatting up close, not giving Briedis the room to escape and clouting him with the overhand left – forces a stoppage in the last quarter.
The victory will set up a final with the winner of the February 3 battle between Yunier Dorticos and Murat Gassiev, another exceptional contest courtesy of the WBSS, in a bout even more intriguing than this one. It should also, fingers crossed, rubber stamp the appeal of this competition moving forward.
And who knows, blue sky thinking admittedly, Usyk could figure in the WBSS heavyweight tournament in the not too distant future, where the entire world will be watching. Just imagine that.
At the time of writing the undercard had barely taken shape, though it is scheduled to feature Hatfield’s Tom
Little, 10-4 (3), testing out the credentials of promising Croatian amateur standout Filip Hrogovic, 2-0 (2), at heavyweight.
THE VERDICT Quality matchmaking that highlights the immense appeal of the WBSS.