I re-watched this fight the other day and was really amazed at the way Briedis was able to hit Usyk so easily and back him up at times. I have a few questions. How good is Briedis? Is he underrated? Would you favor him over Gassiev? And where the hell is Gassiev? Is he hurt?
I see Briedis as the #2 (now #1 as Usyk is gone) CW in a strong era. The man would also be a force at HW as he has already shown a glimpse of. Gassiev is injured and postponed his return recently.
Gassiev will be back on July 27. Briedis is very good when he is motivated. I'd favour motivated veriosn of Briedis against Gassiev, but since Usyk loss Mairis looked lazy and disinterested in the ring.
That's good Gassivev is still young and has long career ahead. I hope the fight with Briedis can be made one day and Mairis can get that hunger back.
Its difficult for me to rate how good Briedis is because I find him extremely inconsistent for one, and for two I feel that his opponents style, dimensions, strengths/weaknesses, and talent are big factors in regards to how effective he ultimately is/can be regardless of how good his opponent is. He will struggle against numerous fighters that hes a big favorite against and will overachieve and even shock against some fighters hes a big underdog against like Usyk and a much lesser extent Chart. Maybe the outcome of the Charr fight wasnt a surprise at all, but more in the way he ended it and the fact hes a CW. He is very explosive and has pretty good all-around speed, his power is legit but I feel hes overrated as a KO artist due to some casuals watching YT highlight reel KO's of his rather than his actual fights. Against certain fighters he can land his most powerful shots. When he does, forget about the count, get the medical team in there. Thats the thing with him though, as explosive as he is, with his skill and speed and power, and his ability to set traps he really iant adept at all in landing his best shots as one would assume. His timing and accuracy are decent but subpar for a fighter of his caliber. His footwork is good in some ways and not so good in others. He has a granite chin and for boxers that go to war with him, they are certainly playing into his hands. At his best I think he is undoubtedly a HOF'er, but I think when his career is over he wont make the cut and will be viewed as an underachiever due to some of his shocking highlight reel KO's and how well he fought against Usyk and probably some more elite CW's in the future. FWIW -- think Usyk's gameplan in that fight sucked and if they fought again id fully expect Usyk to work Briedis.
Briedis is really good and a serious puncher. This content is protected Klitschko brother's Chef on Briedis ''I knew Mairis was a danger and would win. Bad choice for Charr . Mairis can bang!'' ''no but he was great at movement. You have to stay focused with Mairis at all times.'' Mairis is a tough dude. Had him at least 6-8 times in Wlad and Vitalis camps. Always gives top work'' ''Mairis can box that way is all day long, but dont be fooled, the boy has some power. Seen it first hand'' ''I DID... but I know what Mairis was capable of from many many times in Klitschko camps.'' James Ali Bashir on Briedis Said Briedis sparred Wlad numerous times and was never hurt by him, which he says is very rare for anyone who has sparred more than 30 rounds with Wlad. Time-stamped This content is protected And Wlad on Briedis This content is protected CW Sergiy Radchenko who has sparred Wlad, Usyk, Briedis, Huck, Glowacki, Wlodarczyk, Kudryashov and Chakhkiev among other said this about Briedis ''You just can't be lighting fast and hit hard at the same time in this division, although Mairis Briedis is an exception - he is fast, the second fastest guy I sparred behind Usyk, and hits very hard'' Briedis was injured for his last fight and hopefully he's recovered from it now because that version of him will lose to Glowacki
Briedis is a really good fighter for sure, but I also think that he just has a style that gave Usyk some problems. Usyk beat Gassiev easily, but I think Briedis vs Gassiev would be a 50/50 fight.
I'd agree, maybe take it further and say "very strong" era, Gassiev, Usyk, Breidis all at the same time is serious ****, best era in the history of Cruiser imo, if they were British or American it would be a foregone conclusion imo with general opinion, then you got the second tier that are very good too and loads of them would be champs in other era's but while them 3 were about not a chance
Yup for sure cruiser is gold right now. When you have guys like Lebedev, Glowacki, Dorticos and Huck "bringing up the rear" so to speak then you know its a shark tank.
Even without Usyk and Gassiev you could argue its the best in boxing, because they aren't proven at HW yet.
Briedis is another guy, like Usyk, Beterbiev and Hunter, who fought as heavyweights as amateurs and then turned pro and spent most of their time going after easier fights as cruiserweights. All I can think is Briedis is afraid of fighting bigger people. Deontay Wilder fought as heavyweight as an amateur and clearly could've turned pro as a cruiserweight, but he didn't. All the rest did. And it makes no sense. Briedis has a fifth-round knockout over the guy (Charr) who has the WBA Regular heavyweight belt. There's no reason for Briedis to fight at cruiserweight. He apparently just does so, because he can compete against smaller people. He's afraid to take on guys who may outweigh him. Which is kind of cowardly, if you ask me. We know all these cruiserweights who weigh in at 199lbs 36 hours before the fight are up in the 210s or 220s by the time the bell rings. That's what Wilder normally weighs for heavyweight fights. If he can do it, why are they all being pussies? Usyk, Beterbiev and Briedis are all Wilder's age or older. Step the hell up already.
Usyk fought in two Olympics as a heavyweight and fought at super heavyweight in the world series of boxing. Briedis fought at heavyweight in the amateurs, too. They all weigh in the 210s or 220s by the time they "rehydrate" and step in the ring for the "cruiserweight" fights. Usyk is an Olympic heavyweight champion. Briedis wasted the current WBA Regular Heavyweight champ in five rounds. I get sick of people saying they are unproven or they need time or they need to test the waters. These guys turned pro and decided to fight smaller people because it was easier. That's all.
