The former holder of the world heavyweight title (up to 90.7 kg), Latvian Mairis Briedis (28-2, 20 KOs) gave an interview to the YouTube channel ”
Boxing studio of Victor Yalymov“.
Mairis commented on his competitive unification bout against the then heavyweight champion from Ukraine Oleksandr Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs) as part of the WBSS tournament. Briedis expressed a great desire to have a rematch with Alexander in any weight. The Latvian boxer also told his opinion about Usyk’s upcoming fight against the WBC champion from Britain Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs).
– Who else can you single out from the boxers, with whom can you box at the moment? Who can you challenge and agree to this challenge?
– You can’t spray. You will start throwing darts in all directions and in the end you will remain in the cold. If we look at the Russian market, it is very difficult to get there at all. My dream would be, probably… The most interesting fight would be for all boxing fans – this is a rematch with Usyk. I would be even better prepared. He would be better prepared, and it would be the most interesting fight in the world, probably. Because we had a very close fight. At that time, there were nuances that did not allow this step to be taken. Now I would do it, I would take risks.
– Were there any more talks about revenge?
— No, I don’t think so.
– I would still like to ask you again about the first fight. You lost with a close score of 115-113, which was not enough to win?
– After the fourth round, Alexander got into an old injury that opened up. And, in principle, it was certainly 50% harder to breathe. After the fourth round, I went through the remaining eight rounds already on the will. Yes, they took away the ending.
– What was missing?
– The promoter, who was not there at that moment, so that you could win at home. But again, there is another story, much longer. I would not have done so much with the team that I had then. No, I wouldn’t. So God saw and made it the way it was supposed to be. Therefore, I say that it would be a very wonderful fight for Alexander and for me if there was a rematch. I think then it would be the most interesting, probably the long-awaited revenge of the last decades.
Good, Sashko, good — vRINGe report about Usyk-Briedis fight
– Yes, you gave him, probably, the most difficult fight in his career. Can you say that you expected more from him in that fight or not?
“I expected more from myself.
– If we talk about revenge, then at what weight?
– Doesn’t matter. The main thing is that these two athletes meet. At what weight? It doesn’t matter now.
– Now we are talking about the fight between Usyk and Fury. What can you say about this fight, will it happen, and who will win in it?
– Well, as you can see, the show program is happening from Tyson Fury’s side again. We see that there is a stir, for which he receives, in principle. I think Usyk should say “thank you” to Anthony Joshua for the opportunity that he boxed, because boxing in Ukraine, he would not have earned that kind of money in his life. This is my opinion and vision. And Bellew, Chisora - in principle, this is his chest of gold – England.
Who do you see as the favorite in this fight?
Let’s talk about it when it happens. It is not known when it will happen. This is also very important. There is no such unambiguous – straight one will win. It depends very much on various factors. How motivated someone will be, how the camp will go, and so on. Fury’s dimensions are, of course, phenomenal. How he moves, how flexible he is, how he behaves in and out of the ring. We saw what Cunningham did with Fury, who also moved from cruisers to heavyweights, and in the fourth round, he knocked down so hard, it just wasn’t enough. Fury, I think, at that moment was very shocked.
– I understand, it’s a very difficult question, but if you take Usyk, who is now, and Fury, who is now, who is still the favorite?
– I think they will box for a maximum of six rounds and both will be tired. If you take it now, in the current preparation. I think six rounds and someone will fall from impotence.