I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  The World Boxing Super Series is the best combat tournament since Frank Dux took down the Kumite.  This weekend we return to the action with a cruiserweight semi-final matchup between WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk (13-0 11 KO’s) and WBC champ Mairis Briedis (23-0 18 KO’s).  Both fighters will be putting their undefeated records on the line along with their belts in a title unification bout for a spot in the tournament finals.

Of the 4 cruiserweights to advance in the tournament, Briedis was the only one whose fight went the distance.  He fought an ugly bout against former heavyweight Mike Perez that resulted in a Briedis unanimous decision.  Although it was competitive, the decision was never really in doubt as Briedis outclassed his opponent landing the cleaner more effective shots.

Usyk took on former longtime cruiserweight champ Marco Huck in his quarterfinal matchup. Huck coincidentally squared off with Briedis in his previous fight earlier that year losing a dominant unanimous decision.  Huck looked better against Usyk, but couldn’t withstand the constant pressure from the tournament favorite in an entertaining but ultimately one sided affair.  The bout was stopped in the 10th round as Usyk unleashed a barrage of punches to which Huck had no response.

Usyk enters this bout a heavy 1/6 favorite despite the impressive resume of fellow title holder Briedis.  While Usyk is a relatively heavy favorite to win, the oddsmakers have shown Briedis some respect setting the line in favor of him surviving the full 12 rounds and sending this to the scorecards.  I can’t disagree with the oddsmakers regarding the most likely outcome here.  I think Usyk will come away with the decision victory in what should be a grueling contest.  Briedis has the ability to make fighters uncomfortable with good movement, a solid jab, and no reservations about holding when in compromising situations.  Because of this I believe Usyk will have difficulty unleashing his normal volume of punches per round allowing Briedis to go the distance.  If I’m putting money on this fight, I’m taking Usyk to win by any decision which is currently listed at -138 on 5dimes.com.

The winner of this fight takes on the winner of semi-final #2 between Yunier Dorticos (22-0 21 KO’s) and Murat Gassiev (25-0 18KO’s) scheduled for next weekend.  Both the IBF and WBA (regular) titles will be on the line in yet another title unification bout.  If you haven’t figured it out yet, this means that a piece of all 4 major titles will be up for grabs when the final takes place sometime in May of this year in Saudi Arabia.

Honestly, what more can you ask for out of a divisional tournament?  The best fighting the best, putting all belts and undefeated records on the line to determine who is truly on top of the cruiserweight mountain.  Once again, hats off to the World Boxing Super Series for organizing such a great event.