Tony Bellew conquered the WBC vacant cruiserweight championship on May 29, 2016 by knocking out number 1 contender Ilunga Makabu in three rounds in Liverpool, United Kingdom.
Mandatory contender Mairis Briedis reached a step aside agreement with Bellew to allow him a voluntary defense vs. B. J. Flores on October 15, 2016.
By Jim Dower: Marco Huck (40-3-1, 27 KOs) will be fighting #1 WBC Mairis Briedis (21-0, 18 KOs) this Saturday night for the interim WBC cruiserweight title on April in Dortmund, Germany. Both guys are 32, but Briedis has a lot less miles on the clock compared to Huck, who has been fighting as a pro for 13 years. Huck is a former WBO cruiserweight champion. He lost his WBO title to Krzysztof Glowacki by an 11th round knockout in September 2015. Huck has won his last two fights since then against Ola Afolabi and Dmytro Kucher.
By Jim Dower: Undefeated #1 WBC Mairis Briedis (21-0, 18 KOs) and #2 WBC Marcu Huck (40-3-1, 27 KOs) both weighed in successfully for the World Boxing Council’s mandated 30-day weight check on Thursday for their fight on April 1 in Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany. Huck weighed in at 210.9 pounds, while Briedis weighed in at 208.9 lbs.
Huck and Briedis will be fighting for the WBC interim cruiserweight title. However, the winner of the clash could very well be crowned the WBC cruiserweight champion if the current WBC champion Tony Bellew decides to vacate the belt and remain at heavyweight.
By Scott Gilfoid: #2 WBO Marco Huck (40-3-1, 27 KOs) will be fighting the top rated #1 WBO Mairis Briedis (21-0, 18 KOs) on April 1 for the interim WBO cruiserweight title at the Dortmund Westfalenhalle in Germany. The winner of the Huck-Briedis fight will very likely be elevated to the full WBC cruiserweight champion in the near future if/when WBC champion Tony Bellew vacates his title to fight at heavyweight.
I think Bellew won’t bother coming back down to the cruiserweight division after his fight against David Haye on March 4. After Bellew gets a taste of the big cash in the heavyweight division, I see him staying in that weight class. That means the winner of the Huck-Briedis fight will be the new WBC cruiserweight champion.
By Scott Gilfoid: The World Boxing Council recently ordered #1 WBC Mairis Briedis and #2 WBC Marco Huck to fight each other for the interim WBC cruiserweight title while WBC champion Tony Bellew is fighting at heavyweight against David Haye on March 4 in their fight at the O2 Arena in London, England.
The WBC has set it up to where if Bellew doesn’t choose to come back down in weight to cruiserweight, then the winner of the Briedis-Huck fight will be the new WBC cruiserweight. If Bellew, 33, does decide to come back down to cruiserweight to resume being the WBC champion, then he’ll need to face the Huck vs. Briedis (21-0, 18 KOs) winner straightaway.
By Eric Baldwin: The World Boxing Council has ordered #1 WBC Mairis Briedis (22-0, 18 KOs) and former WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (40-3-1, 27 KOs) to face each other in WBC eliminator. The Huck vs. Briedis fight is supposed to be for the WBC interim cruiserweight title. That will put them in a great position to ge the WBC title in 2017.
The current WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew is fighting heavyweight David Haye next on March 4 in the heavyweight division. The WBC is fine with that fight taking place. However, if Bellew doesn’t return to the division, then the winner of the Huck vs. Briedis fight will become the new WBC cruiserweight champion.
By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten #1 WBC cruiserweight mandatory challenger Mairis Briedis (21-0, 17 KOs) smashed … read more
By Scott Gilfoid: The HIGHLY talented unbeaten #1 WBC cruiserweight contender Mairis Briedis (20-0, 17 KOs) will be facing unbeaten British fighter Simon Vallily (9-0, 2 KOs) this Saturday night in a 10 round scheduled fight on the undercard of the Tony Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KOs) vs. BJ Flores (32-2-1, 20 KOs) card at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.
This is supposed to be the 31-year-old Briedis’ last fight before getting his mandatory title shot against Bellew, as he’s the mandatory challenger for that title. Briedis was supposed to be the one that was fighting for the WBC title, but Bellew’s promoter Eddie Hearn was able to get him a voluntary defense against bottom dweller BJ Flores, who is ranked #14 by the WBC.
By Scott Gilfoid: WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew got some bad news today with the World Boxing Council saying that he’s got to fight his mandatory challenger Mairis Briedis (20-0, 17 KOs) in his next fight if he successfully defeats #14 WBC fringe contender BJ Flores (32-2-1, 20 KOs) on October 15 in their fight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England.
Bellew, 33, could have gotten the fight against the talented Brieidis out of the way in his first defense, but instead he opted to fight the 37-year-old Flores, who was recently easily beaten by Beibut Shumenov by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision last year in July 2015.
By Scott Gilfoid: Mairis Briedis is scheduled to fight on the undercard of World Boxing Council cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew’s next fight against BJ Flores on October 15 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KOs) was supposed to be defending his title against the unbeaten #1 WBC Briedis (20-0, 17 KOs), but the WBC let him make a voluntary defense against the 37-year-old Flores (32-2-1, 20 KOs), who currently isn’t ranked in the top 15 by any of the sanctioning bodies.
I expect that to change shortly with the WBC likely giving Flores a top 15 ranking. Bellew defeated Illunga Makabu by a 3rd round knockout to win the vacant WBC title last May in Liverpool. With the WBC title being a vacant one, it should have meant that Bellew would fight his No.1 contender Briedis next, but the WBC is letting him fight the non-Top 15 ranked Flores.