By Jeff Aranow: Unbeaten #4 WBC cruiserweight contender Mairis Breidis (20-0, 17 KOs) proved to be too much for the powerful #2 WBC Olanrewaju Durodola (22-3, 20 KOs) in stopping him in the 9th round on Saturday night to capture his WBC Silver cruiserweight title at the at the Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia.
The fight was stopped after Breidis was hitting Durodola at will with shots in the 9th.
Breidis, 31, nailed the 35-year-old Durodola with a big right hand that sent him flying into the corner. The referee then gave Durodola a standing eight count. Durodola also lost his mouthpiece and had to have that put back in. Once that action resumed, Breidis flurried on Durodola with power shots until referee Frank Garza halted the fight with Durodola still on his feet.
Durodola was docked a point in the 3rd for hitting on the break.
In the 6th, Breidis lost a point for excessive holding. He had been holding all night long to keep the bigger 6’2” Durodola from landing his big punches. The referee finally did something about it in the 6th.
Breidis hurt Durodola with a late flurry of shots in the 7th round. Durodola was up against the ropes taking heavy shots in the last 30 seconds of the round. Breidis also hurt Durodola with a flurry of head shots in the 4th round that had him on the ropes covering up.
Durodola was strong in the first three rounds of the fight, as he pressured Breidis and landed big shots to the head. Breidis did a good job of making Durodola miss many of his punches in the those rounds.
In a clash of big punching cruiserweights, unbeaten WBC #4 rated Mairis Briedis (20-0, 17 KOs) scored a ninth round TKO over WBC #2 rated Olanrewaju Durodola (22-3, 20 KOs) on Saturday night at the Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia. It was a war from the beginning.
Briedis dropped Durodola at the end of round six and went for the finish in round seven with a huge assault, which Durodola absorbed. Briedis hammered Duradola again in round nine, getting credit for a knockdown when Duradola fell into the ropes, and referee Frank Garza waved it off later in the round.
The victory puts the 31-year-old Breidis in position to fight the winner of the May 29th fight between #1 WBC Ilunga Makabu and #6 WBC Tony Bellew. Those two fighters will be facing off for the vacant WBC cruiserweight champion title at Goodison Park in Liverpool, UK. Bellew is getting a shot at the vacant title over Breidis and Durodola.