The much anticipated battle for the undisputed cruiserweight championship is here.
Oleksandr Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs) v Tony Bellew (30-2-1, 20 KOs), WBA, WBC, IBF, & WBO cruiserweight titles & Anthony Crolla (33-6, 13 KOs) v Daud Yordan (38-3, 26 KOs), lightweights & Ricky Burns (42-7-1, 15 KOs) v Scott Cardle (23-2-1, 7 KOs), lightweights – Manchester, England – DAZN, 1 PM Eastern
Oleksandr Usyk headlines the weekend by defending his undisputed cruiserweight championship against very popular top British contender Tony Bellew. This is a big one. Bellew is stepping back down to cruiserweight after his two big wins at heavyweight over David Haye while Usyk is making his first defense following his triumphant run through the loaded World Boxing Super Series season one cruiserweight field to unify the division. While the Ukrainian is the rightful favorite, if there is anyone left who can challenge him before his inevitable run at heavyweight, it is the Brit here. In fact, Oleksandr only has his WBC belt because Bellew vacated it to go fight Haye, so there is some unfinished business there too. The huge main event won’t come on until closer until five, but until then former titleholders Anthony Crolla and Ricky Burns will keep us busy along with blue chip welterweight prospect Josh Kelly and popular British everyman heavyweight David Allen.
Mairis Briedis (24-1, 18 KOs) v Noel Gevor (23-1, 10 KOs), cruiserweights & Krzysztof Glowacki (30-1, 19 KOs) v Maksim Vlasov (42-2, 25 KOs), cruiserweights – Chicago, Illinois – DAZN, 8 PM Eastern
Top cruiserweights also serve as the night cap on DAZN to conclude the sixth and final week of season two World Boxing Super Series quarterfinal doubleheaders. The winners of the two fights here will meet each other in the semifinals. Briedis is arguably the tournament favorite and should get a comfortable win over Noel Gevor (who sometimes goes by Noel Mikaelian). I do worry a bit about the quality of the fight though. While Briedis put it on the line and was exciting in his nearly successful bid to knock off Oleksandr Usyk in the semifinals of season one, he has historically been pretty clinch happy. Gevor/Mikaelian certainly is too. I like the co-main event a lot at least. Krzysztof Glowacki was by far the best fighter left out of the season one field. He served as an alternate, but I definitely would have preferred him in there over the aging former titleholders that rounded out the field. He’s got it tough here now that he is in though against Maksim Vlasov, maybe the most low key real contender at 200 lbs. I like this one a lot. I’m going to miss these cards as everyone heals up for the semifinals in late January, early February.
