 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date | 30 September 2017 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBC cruiserweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Briedis defeats Perez via UD (116–110, 114–112, 115–111) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mairis Briedis vs. Mike Perez was a professional boxing match contested on 30 September 2017, for the WBC cruiserweight championship. [1]
At the WBSS Draft Gala, which took place on 8 July in Monte Carlo, WBC champion Mairis Briedis chose former heavyweight contender Mike Perez (22–2–1, 14 KOs) as his quarter-final opponent. Perez had been out of action for 25 months before moving down from the heavyweight division following a TKO loss to Alexander Povetkin and won his first fight at that weight with a first-round knockout on 10 June 2017. [2] 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 and would be the third quarter final, coming a week after Yunier Dorticos knocked out Dmitry Kudryashov. [3] [4] At the official weigh-in, Briedis tipped the scales at 198 1⁄2 lbs, while Mike Perez came in lighter, at 197 1⁄3 lbs. [5] This was Briedis' first defence of the belt he won against Marco Huck in April.
Briedis won a scrappy fight, beating Perez by unanimous decision after 12 rounds (116–110, 114–112, 115–111). [6] Perez was deducted a point in round 3 following an accidental headbutt. Briedis was also docked a point during round 10 for excessive holding. [7]
With the win, Briedis moved on to the semifinals to face top-seeded Oleksandr Usyk. [8]
Confirmed bouts: [9]
Muamer Hukić, best known as Marco Huck, is a Bosniak German professional boxer. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2009 to 2015, and is the joint-longest reigning cruiserweight world champion of all time, having made thirteen consecutive successful defenses, a division record shared with Johnny Nelson. Huck also held the IBO cruiserweight title from 2016 to 2017, the European cruiserweight title from 2008 to 2009, and has challenged once for the WBA (Regular) heavyweight title in 2012.
Ismaikel "Mike" Perez is a Cuban and Irish professional boxer who holds the WBA Intercontinental Cruiserweight title and challenged once for the WBC cruiserweight title in 2017.
Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held the undisputed championship in two weight classes, at cruiserweight and heavyweight, and reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion from May to June 2024. He has also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) title since 2021, and the Ring magazine title since 2022.
Anthony Lewis Bellew is an English former professional boxer who competed from 2007 to 2018, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator. He held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2016 to 2017. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles between 2010 and 2014, the European cruiserweight title from 2015 to 2016. As an amateur, he is a three-time ABA heavyweight champion. He portrayed antagonist boxer Ricky Conlan in the films Creed and Creed III.
Yuniel Dorticós Pao is a Cuban professional boxer. He is a former cruiserweight world champion, having held the WBA (Regular) title from 2017 to 2018 and the IBF title from 2019 to 2020.
Jai Opetaia is an Australian professional boxer. He held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title from 2022 until 2023. He currently holds the Ring magazine and lineal cruiserweight titles. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2012 Youth World Championships and represented Australia at the 2012 Olympics and 2014 Commonwealth Games. As of February 2023, Opetaia is ranked the world's best active cruiserweight by The Ring magazine, and the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, second by BoxRec, and third best by ESPN.
Krzysztof Głowacki is a Polish professional boxer who has held the WBO junior-heavyweight title twice; from 2015 to 2016 and again in 2019. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division at the 2008 EU Championships.
Mairis Briedis is a former Latvian professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2024. He was a three-time cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF and Ring titles from 2020 to 2022; the WBC title from 2017 to 2018; and the WBO title in 2019. Upon winning the WBC title in 2017, he became the first Latvian to hold a world boxing title. He was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 2017.
Norair Mikaelian, better known as Noel Gevor Mikaelian, is an Armenian-German professional boxer who is the current WBC cruiserweight world champion, holding the title since November 2023. He is the stepson of former European middleweight champion Khoren Gevor.
Murat Georgievich Gassiev is a Russian former unified cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2016 to 2018, and the WBA (Unified) title in 2018.
The 2017–18 World Boxing Super Series – cruiserweight division was a World Boxing Super Series professional boxing tournament that took place between September 2017 and July 2018 in several countries. The Super Series featured eight top-rated cruiserweight boxers in a single-elimination tournament. Its winner will hold world titles for all four of boxing's major sanctioning bodies, The Ring Magazine title, as well as the Muhammad Ali trophy. The tournament was organized by Comosa AG. A super middleweight tournament was held concurrently, with prize money for both competitions totalling US$50 million.
Regis Prograis is an American professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Association (WBA) super lightweight title in 2019, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) super lightweight title from 2022 to 2023. As of November 2023, he is ranked as the world's second best active super lightweight by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and third by BoxRec and The Ring magazine.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Marco Huck was a professional boxing match contested on 9 September 2017, for the WBO Cruiserweight championship.
Murat Gassiev vs. Krzysztof Włodarczyk was a professional boxing match contested on October 21, 2017, for the IBF cruiserweight championship.
Yunier Dorticos vs. Dmitry Kudryashov was a professional boxing match contested on September 23, 2017, for the WBA (Regular) cruiserweight championship.
Callum Smith vs. Erik Skoglund was a professional boxing match contested on 16 September 2017.
Chris Eubank Jr vs. Avni Yildirim was a professional boxing match contested on 7 October 2017, for the IBO super middleweight championship. The bout was also a WBC super middleweight title eliminator.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Mairis Briedis was a professional boxing match contested on 27 January 2018, for the WBC and WBO cruiserweight championship.
Murat Gassiev vs. Yuniel Dorticos was a professional boxing match contested on 3 February 2018, for the WBA and IBF cruiserweight championship.
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Murat Gassiev was a professional boxing match contested on 21 July 2018, for the undisputed cruiserweight championship.
