Mairis Briedis


Mairis Briedis is a Latvian professional boxer. He is the first Latvian to win a boxing world title, having held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2017 to 2018, and the WBO cruiserweight title in 2019. He was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 2017. As a professional, he has fought world champions Oleksander Usyk, Marco Huck, Krzysztof Głowacki and Manuel Charr. As of November 2019, he is ranked as the world’s best active cruiserweight by BoxRec, The Ring magazine and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.

Professional career

Early career

At the age of 24, after previously serving as a Latvian State Police officer in Rīga, Briedis turned professional in 2009. He racked up multiple wins in his home country and abroad, including a second-round technical knockout of former heavyweight title challenger Danny Williams. He captured the IBA cruiserweight title along the way.
Briedis' first fight of note came in 2015, when he moved up in weight and traveled to Russia to face former heavyweight title challenger Manuel Charr. Briedis knocked out his much bigger opponent with a single punch in the fifth round.
In 2016, Briedis knocked out hard-hitting Nigerian Olanrewaju Durodola in a slug fest, to capture the WBC Silver cruiserweight title. This made him the mandatory challenger for the winner of Tony Bellew and Ilunga Makabu. Briedis was ringside for the fight and congratulated the victorious Bellew in his dressing room afterwards.
Briedis then fought in the UK for the first time in a stay busy fight against Simon Vallily on the undercard of Bellew's first title defence against BJ Flores. Bellew vacated his title in early 2017, meaning the vacant title would be on the line in Briedis' next fight.

WBC cruiserweight champion

Briedis vs. Huck

Due to Tony Bellew fighting David Haye instead of taking on Briedis, the WBC ordered a match for the WBC interim cruiserweight title between Marco Huck and Briedis. The winner would earn a fight with Bellew for the full WBC title or possibly be elevated to full championship status if Bellew decided to vacate and stay at heavyweight. As Bellew didn't plan to defend his title for a while, he vacated the title in March 2017.
On 1 April 2017 Briedis captured the vacant WBC cruiserweight title by defeating Huck via unanimous decision . Huck was deducted a point after an accidental clash of heads. Briedis was able to outbox the former two-time champion and prevent him from having any success on the inside during the fight. Some boxing pundits had Briedis winning every round in the fight. The IBO title, previously held by Huck, became vacant due to Briedis not paying the sanctioning fees.

2017–18: World Boxing Super Series

On 2 June 2017 Briedis announced that he would take part in the inaugural World Boxing Super Series, where the winner would receive a grand prize as well as the Muhammad Ali Trophy. Briedis described the bracket style tournament as the 'Champions League of boxing'.

Briedis vs. Perez

At the Draft Gala, which took place on 8 July in Monte Carlo, Briedis chose former heavyweight contender Mike Perez as his quarter-final opponent. Perez had been out of action for 25 months before moving down to the 200 pound limit division and won his first fight at that weight with a first-round knockout on 10 June 2017. On 22 July, the WBSS announced the fight would take place in Briedis' home country of Latvia at the Rīga Arēna in Riga on 30 September 2017. This was the eighth time Briedis fought at the arena.
Briedis defeated Perez by UD over twelve rounds. Perez was deducted a point in round three following an accidental clash of heads. Briedis was also docked a point during round ten for excessive holding. With the win, Briedis moved on to the semi-finals to face top-seeded Oleksandr Usyk.

Briedis vs. Usyk

Briedis had the next fight against Usyk, following the latter's win over Marco Huck. In November 2017, it was reported the fight would take place on 27 January 2018 in Riga, Latvia, a week before Gassiev vs. Dorticos would take place. Arēna Rīga was confirmed as the location by Comosa's Chief Boxing Officer Kalle Sauerland. Usyk came in at 199.5 pounds and Briedis weighed 199.1 pounds. Usyk moved on to the final of the tournament after defeating Briedis via majority decision. 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. After the fight, Usyk stated it was the hardest fight of his career. According to CompuBox stats, Usyk landed 212 of 848 punches thrown and Briedis was more accurate, landing 195 of his 579 thrown. Usyk landed 40% of his power punches. Many boxers and pundits praised the fight.

Reserve fight

On 28 June 2018, Briedis began training for his next bout, which was speculated to take place on the undercard of the WBSS final on 21 July at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow. His opponent was later announced to be French boxer Brandon Deslaurier. Briedis was also confirmed as the WBSS final substitute in case either Usyk or Murat Gassiev could not compete. The bout with Deslaurier was scheduled for ten rounds. Briedis went the ten round distance, defeating Deslaurier via UD. All three judges scored the fight 100–90.

2018–19: World Boxing Super Series

In August 2018, Briedis, along with Yuniel Dorticos, entered a second edition of the WBSS. Unlike the inaugural tournament, there was no world champions, as Usyk had unified all the titles. Mateusz Masternak, Krzysztof Głowacki and Maxim Vlasov were other top contenders to join.

Briedis vs. Gevor

As the #1 seed, Briedis chose to fight German boxer Noel Gevor. On 26 September, it was announced that the Briedis vs. Gevor bout, along with the Głowacki vs. Vlasov would take place as a doubleheader on 10 November at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, US.

Briedis vs. Głowacki

On 15 Jun 2019 Briedis won the WBO cruiserweight title in a controversial fight against Głowacki. Briedis won by TKO in the third round but appeared to intentionally foul his opponent with an elbow strike after being hit on the back of the neck in the second. The WBO's report on the fight also stated that the referee Robert Byrd made "multiple errors" in officiating the fight and ordered a rematch. Briedis was later stripped of the title after refusing to defend it in a direct rematch fight with Głowacki rather than proceeding with the WBSS tournament Final.

Briedis vs. Dorticos

Briedis is scheduled to face Yuniel Dorticos on 16 May in Riga for the WBSS tournament final.

Professional boxing record

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
27Win26–1 Krzysztof GłowackiTKO3, 0:2715 Jun 2019 Arēna Rīga, Riga, LatviaWon WBO cruiserweight title;
World Boxing Super Series: Cruiserweight semi-final
26Win25–1 Noel GevorUD1210 Nov 2018 UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.World Boxing Super Series: Cruiserweight quarter-final
25Win24–1 Brandon DeslaurierUD1021 Jul 2018 Olympic Stadium, Moscow, Russia
24Loss23–1 Oleksandr Usyk1227 Jan 2018 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, LatviaLost WBC cruiserweight title;
For WBO cruiserweight title;
World Boxing Super Series: Cruiserweight semi-final
23Win23–0 Mike PerezUD1230 Sep 2017 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, LatviaRetained WBC cruiserweight title;
World Boxing Super Series: Cruiserweight quarter-finals
22Win22–0 Marco HuckUD121 Apr 2017 Westfalenhallen, Dortmund, GermanyWon vacant WBC and IBO cruiserweight titles
21Win21–0 Simon VallilyTKO3, 2:3615 Oct 2016 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
20Win20–0 Olanrewaju DurodolaTKO9, 2:5814 May 2016 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, LatviaWon WBC Silver cruiserweight title
19Win19–0 Danie VenterTKO2, 2:0521 Feb 2016 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, LatviaWon vacant IBF Inter-Continental cruiserweight title
18Win18–0 László HubertTKO2, 2:426 Nov 2015 Palais, Frankfurt, Germany
17Win17–0 Manuel CharrKO5, 2:5522 Aug 2015 Akhmat-Arena, Grozny, Russia
16Win16–0 Emre AltintasTKO2, 1:3528 Jun 2015 Fruchthalle, Kaiserslautern, Germany
15Win15–0 Björn BlaschkeTKO4, 1:4510 Apr 2015 Kongress Und Sportzentrum, Hessen, Germany
14Win14–0 Ismail AbdoulUD1214 Nov 2014 Olympic Hall, Liepāja, LatviaRetained IBA cruiserweight title
13Win13–0 Csaba FaurKO1, 1:4526 Sep 2014 Palais, Frankfurt, Germany
12Win12–0 Joey VegasTKO9, 1:0926 Jul 2014 Ķīpsala Exhibition Centre, Rīga, LatviaWon vacant WBC Baltic cruiserweight title
11Win11–0 Luboš Šuda5, 3:0022 Nov 2013 Olympic Hall, Liepāja, LatviaWon vacant IBA cruiserweight title
10Win10–0 Jérémy OuannaUD85 Jul 2013 Olympic Hall, Porto Carras, Greece
9Win9–0 Jonathan FeltonTKO2, 2:4114 Jun 2013 The Ritz, Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
8Win8–0 Danny WilliamsTKO2, 1:0923 Mar 2013 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, Latvia
7Win7–0 Marko AngermannTKO2, 2:3820 Oct 2012 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, Latvia
6Win6–0 József NagyTKO2, 1:0716 Jun 2012 Sports Complex Majori, Jūrmala, Latvia
5Win5–0 Ruslan SiniavskijTKO1, 2:5024 Mar 2012 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, Latvia
4Win4–0 Andrejs Naglis2, 0:258 Oct 2011 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, Latvia
3Win3–0 Josip JalušićTKO1 2 Jun 2011 Arēna Rīga, Rīga, Latvia
2Win2–0 Gábor Zsalek1, 3:0012 Jun 2010 Hala Sportowa, Krynica Zdrój, Poland
1Win1–0 Raulis Racilauskas411 Oct 2009 Rīga Hanza Secondary School, Rīga, Latvia

Briedis logo and brand

Briedis surname stands for "Stag" in the Latvian language which is where his logo comes from.