Mairis Briedis, who ranks as one of the toughest, most talented of recent cruiserweight warriors, has officially announced he is retiring from the ring. The Latvian star, a former three-time cruiserweight champion, exits with a fine 28-3(20) record. Briedis, who fought as a pro for almost 15 long years, met a number of big names during his at times thrilling career, including:
Oleksandr Usyk (Briedis arguably giving Usyk the single toughest fight of his pro career, the Ukrainian winning via 12 round majority decision in a unification fight that took place during the World Boxing Super Series semi-final in 2018), Manuel Charr, Marco Huck, Mike Perez, Noel Mikaelian, Krysztof Glowacki (in one of the wildest, dirtiest slugfests ever seen), Yuniel Dorticos, and Jai Opetaia, who twice edged Briedis in what will now go down as Mairis’ final fights.
Briedis won the his first world title with a win over Huck, this in April of 2017, Briedis winning a decision to take the vacant WBC belt. After losing to Usyk, Briedis defeated Glowacki by KO to win the WBO title (the KO a controversial one, Briedis using all manner of fouls in the fight and getting away with it), while Briedis, now aged 35, then won the IBF title with a close win over Dorticos, this in the 2020 final of the WBSS. And finally, Briedis was then decisioned by Opetaia in back-to-back fights that took place over the course of 22 months.
Never once stopped in his career, Briedis, who retires at age 39, has to go down as perhaps the greatest Latvian boxer ever. Not only that, but Breidis, who fought the best and encountered all manner of fighting styles, has a shot at going into the Hall of Fame.
Briedis posted a short retirement announcement on X, his message accompanied by a selection of photos from his brilliant ring career. For sure, Mairis Briedis has a career to look back on with immense pride. It certainly would have been more than interesting to have seen Briedis get a second go at Usyk, either at cruiserweight or up at heavyweight.
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