Usyk vs Briedis Odds – WBSS Cruiserweight Semis – The World Boxing Super Series Cruiserweight tournament starts it’s semi-final stage this Saturday as Oleksandr Usyk faces Mairis Briedis.
Usyk (13-0) was the tournament’s #1 seed when the field was announced. Though he has had a short pro career, Usyk has a long amateur background representing his native Ukraine. He won an Olympic gold medal as a heavyweight in 2012 and his style of precision punching from an array of angles combined with the movement of a smaller fighter has helped him to rise fast in the pro ranks. The fact that he operated as a heavyweight in the amateur means we will likely see Usyk enter the weight class after a run at cruiserweight. Though he will be a smaller heavyweight, so was Evander Holyfield.
In the opening round of the tourney this past September, Usyk pounded out Marco Huck in the tenth round of their quarterfinal bout. Huck was a former world champion with over 40 wins as a professional and he entered the tournament as one of it’s biggest names. Usyk went to Huck’s home country of Germany and he pummeled the ex-champ. The impressive win further sealed Usyk as the #1 seed and it also marked Usyk’s fourth defense of his WBO world title.
Usyk will be facing the Latvian Briedis in Riga, but fighting on the road is nothing new to Usyk. Briedis owns the WBC world title belt as he won it via UD over the previously mentioned Marco Huck. In the tournament’s opening round, Briedis dispatched Cuban-American Mike Perez, also via unanimous decision.
Briedis is a straight forward fighter who has scored a lot of KO’s in his career. The main thing is that against the heightened competition level of the last two fights, the KO has not come. Good luck to Briedis in trying to out-box Usyk, so he is in real trouble if the KO does not come in this one.
The bottom line is that the WBSS deserves credit for putting together a tournament of elite fighters. The semi-finalists at 200 pounds are all undefeated world champions as the other side of the bracket sees IBF world champion Murat Gassiev (25-0) facing WBA world champion Yunier Dorticos ( 22-0). That fight goes down on February 3rd and the finals are scheduled for the May time frame. Both Gassiev and Dorticos advanced in the tournament with early KO victories so fireworks are expected on the other side of the bracket.
If there are no injuries or unforeseen problems, the tournament finals will yield a unified world champion in the 200 pound cruiserweight class.
This tournament and the accompanying 168 lb tournament run by the WBSS both deserve more attention than they are getting in the United States. Despite the tourneys being light on American talent the level of the fields is elite and it is a travesty that no television station in the United States is set to air the fights.
Below are the odds and the over/under lines as they stand roughly 48 hours prior to fight time. Check your sports book for the latest Usyk vs Briedis Odds.
Usyk vs Briedis Odds:
Arena Riga – Riga, Latvia – 1/27
WBSS Semifinal – Cruiserweight 12 rounds –
Oleksandr Usyk -800 o9½ -245
Mairis Briedis +550 u9½ +175
Usyk vs Briedis Odds – WBSS Cruiserweight Semis / Check out more boxing news and features at The Sweet Science.
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