By Ian S Palmer
The cruiserweight final of the World Boxing Super Series finally takes place this Saturday, Sept. 26th after being postponed in March and again in May. IBF Champion Yunier Dorticos of Cuba puts his title on the line against Mairis Briedis in Munich, Germany. Briedis stopped Krzysztof Glowacki in the third round in controversial fashion in June, 2019 in his semifinal while Dorticos stopped Andrew Tabiti in the 10th round for the vacant IBF Title. Dorticos beat Mateusz Masternak by 12-round unanimous decision earlier in the competition while Briedis beat Noel Gevor by unanimous decision for the vacant Diamond Title. The 12-round bout can be seen live on DAZN in North America and Sky Sports in the UK.
The 34-year-old Dorticos is a former WBA Cruiserweight Champion who lost his crown to Murat Gassiev in February of 2018 in the semifinals of the first World Boxing Super Series. Dorticos had crushed Dmitry Kudryashov in the second round earlier in the tournament but was stopped by Gassiev with eight seconds left in the fight. Dorticos enters this bout with a record of 24-1 along with 22 big Ko’s with the loss to Gassiev being his only defeat since turning pro back in 2009. Dorticos has fought just 95 rounds since then mainly due to his quick knockouts.
There’s no questioning the Cuban’s amazing power as his current knockout ratio stands at an outstanding 88 per cent, but he met his match against Gassiev last year while Masternak took him the distance as did Edison Miranda over 10 rounds in 2014. Dorticos is a good-sized cruiserweight at 6-feet-3-inches tall with an 80-inch reach. He was elevated to the WBA Cruiserweight Champion in June of 2017 after being the interim champ. His toughest foes so far have been Tabiti, Gassiev, Kudryashov, Youri Kalenga, Fulgencio Zuniga, Miranda and Eric Fields.
Like several other Cuban-born boxers, Dorticos now fights out of Miami, Florida. He had an extensive amateur career of about 260 bouts and won numerous medals and events. Since turning pro Dorticos has won several minor titles as well such as the WBC Latino Cruiserweight, and USBA Cruiserweight Titles. He definitely has power but like most Cuban boxers also has some fine skills to display in the squared circle.
The 35-year-old Briedis is also a heavy hitter with plenty of skills and Dorticos may be be better off to try and box him in the early going rather than slug it out. The former WBC and IBO World Champ has a fine record of 26-1 with 19 Kos but has stopped just eight of his last 13 opponents and has gone the distance in five of his last six outings. Before stopping Glowacki last year his last stoppage came in October, 2016 over Simon Vallily in the third round. Briedis, who enjoyed a fine amateur career and also fought as a kick boxer over 70 times.
Briedis stands 6-feet-1-inch tall with a 75-inch reach as he gives up two inches in height and five inches in reach to Dorticos. Briedis’ other big wins have been decisions against Marco Huck and Mike Perez as well as Olanrewaju Durodola by ninth-round stoppage in 2016 and a fifth-round stoppage of heavyweight Manuel Charr back in 2015. His only loss came via a majority decision at the hands Oleksandr Usyk in January of last year when Usyk was the WBO boss at the time.
Briedis had won the vacant WBC crown and IBO Title a year earlier when he beat Huck by unanimous decision. However, he gave up the IBO strap as he refused to pay the sanctioning fees. He then defended his WBC belt against Perez. Briedis turned pro in 2009 and has now fought 140 rounds since then. As his record shows, he’s got quite a bit of power with a current knockout ratio of 70.4 per cent and he also possesses good boxing skills. Other than meeting a few recognizable names though such as Usyk, Perez and Huck, Briedis may lack a little experience in fighting against a steady stream top-ranked opponents up to now.
Prediction…
Neither Briedis and Dorticos are the quickest cruiserweights out there and can be a bit dull and predictable if they can’t stop their opponent. Dorticos has the edge in power while Briedis has slightly better boxing skills a sturdier chin. However, Briedis’ power has been missing in action with five straight of his last six fights going the distance. He’s not naturally aggressive either and often looks pedestrian in the ring. Still, he’s the better boxer of the two but this is a tossup really and I’ll go with Dorticos and his power.
