Krzysztof Glowacki is officially a two-time JR. Heavyweight titlist—this time, without any of the drama that came with claiming his first crown.

In the wake of Oleksandr Usyk slowly severing ties with the jr. heavyweight division, the World Boxing Organization (WBO) has become the latest sanctioning body to declare it time to crown a new 200-pound king. The natural replacement was the man whom already holds the interim title.

“With WBO Champion Oleksandr Usyk moving to the Heavyweight division, Interim Champion Krzysztof Glowacki, is now recognized as the new WBO Jr. Heavyweight Champion,” Francisco ‘Paco’ Valcárcel, president of the WBO confirmed on Wednesday.

The transition is a smooth one, as Glowacki already has a fight scheduled versus former World Boxing Council (WBC) cruiserweight titlist Mairis Briedis. The two will collide on June 15 in Riga, Latvia, headlining a World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) cruiserweight semifinals doubleheader live on DAZN.

The bout will serve as the first defense of the new reign, without fear of having to take on a mandatory challenger anytime soon.

“The WBO will sanction (Glowacki versus Breidis) as a MANDATORY title defense,” ruled Valcárcel of the pairing of former Usyk opponents.

Glowacki (31-1, 19KOs) won his first title in an epic thriller, trading knockdowns with Marco Huck before stopping the long-reigning titlist in the 11th round of their Aug. 2015 war. The bout was universally hailed as high among the best fights of the year, in addition to the feat leaving Huck tied with Johnny Nelson for the most title defenses in divisional history.

Just one successful defense would come of Glowacki’s reign—a 12-round decision over former lineal champ Steve Cunningham in April 2016—before losing the title to Usyk via decision later that September.

Five wins have followed, including a 12-round decision over Maksim Vlasov in their interim title fight last October in Chicago, Ill. The bout came as part of the quarterfinals round of the WBSS season two cruiserweight tournament, on a show which also saw Briedis (25-1, 18KOs) advance, albeit in far more controversial fashion.

The former titlist was considered fortunate to have escaped with a 12-round decision over Noel Gevor. Despite the uproar, the decision was upheld in marking Briedis’ second win since suffering his lone career defeat which came in a WBSS season one semifinals loss to Usyk last January in his Riga hometown.

Usyk went on to claim top honors in the tournament, soundly outpoint Murat Gassiev last July in a finals bout which had all four major cruiserweight titles at stake. One more defense followed, an 8th round knockout of former titlist Tony Bellew last November in Manchester, England before deciding to embark on a heavyweight run.

A torn biceps injury has postponed his debut at the new weight, but it hasn’t prevented the sanctioning bodies from reclaiming their belts. The World Boxing Association (WBA) has already relieved Usyk of his “Super” champion status earlier this year after he declined to honor a mandatory title defense versus former titlist Denis Lebedev.

By Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox

Latvia’s Mairis Briedis (25-1, 18 KOs) feels ready to shine for a third time at the Arena Riga on June 15, when he faces Poland’s Krzysztof Glowacki (31-1, 19 KOs) for the WBO title, and a place in the Final for the Ali Trophy.

In Season 1 of the World Boxing Super Series Briedis fought twice in front of capacity crowds in Latvia’s capital. The national hero won a unanimous points decision over Mike Perez in the quarter-final and after an extremely tough and hard-fought battle, he lost to Aleksandr Usyk who claimed a 12-round majority decision, in the semi-final.

After defeating Noel Mikaelian via a unanimous decision in Season 2’s quarter-final last November, the former WBC champion is back at the Arena Riga for a second attempt of reaching the final. He is facing a warrior, who has promised to bring the war to Riga, a former WBO champ whose only career loss likewise is credited to Usyk.

“I am really looking forward to another chance to get to the final,” said Briedis. “In front of my people in a fight watched by the world, I will do my best to make Latvia proud.”

How has training been going?
“I am always trying to do what my trainers are asking from me. We are working on our prepared plan and thus far everything has been good and I myself feel better and better for every single day.”

What have you learned from last year’s semi-final experience? And this year’s quarter-final?
“There are things to learn from every fight and of course I took lessons from both of those fights to be better going forward.”

What do you think of your opponent, Glowacki?
“He is a very good boxer with a very heavy punch.”

Do you have a message for him?
“We’ll be able to pass our messages from one to another in the ring. Now it’s all about focusing on the preparation.”

What can the fans in Riga expect to see from you?
“It will be the world’s finest boxing show at the arena with two mega fights taking place at the same night plus all the local talent on the undercard who are all preparing to show their best on such a big night of boxing.”

What is your dream scenario for the fight?
“For me, the most important is to enjoy the fight and end it with no injuries or anything unwanted.”

Have you been seeing or following the other divisions in the WBSS?
“Unfortunately very little but as much as I have seen made me as a boxing fan very happy about the WBSS product.”

Who do you think you will face in the final?
“I have always been going step by step in my career and my next step is the semi-final bout against Glowacki which is the only thing I’m thinking of right now. And like I said, I’ll do everything to make Latvia proud!”

The WBSS returns on June 15 with a sensational doubleheader at the Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia: Mairis Briedis vs Krzysztof Glowacki and Yunier Dorticos vs Andrew Tabiti for spots in the Cruiserweight Final for the Ali Trophy.

Tickets for the hotly-anticipated semi-final in Riga are on sale from: bilesuserviss.lv

All the action will be live on DAZN in the U.S. and Sky Sports in the U.K.

GLOWACKI: “I CAN REVEAL THE NAME OF THE WINNER – KRZYSZTOF GLOWACKI!”

Poland’s Krzysztof ‘Glowka’ Glowacki (31-1, 19 KOs) is in war mode ahead of the WBSS Cruiserweight Semi-Final against Latvia’s Mairis Briedis (25-1, 18 KOs) June 15 at the Arena Riga in Latvia for the WBO title at stake.

Glowacki won the WBO World Championship via a sensational 11th-round stoppage over Marco Huck in August 2015, the Polish warrior rose from a knockdown in the sixth round and fought back in an epic slug-fest to take the throne.

Aleksandr Usyk overthrew it in 2016, and since then the southpaw has had a strong belief in coming back and overtake the division. In the quarter-final of the WBSS he picked up the decision against Russia’s Maksim Vlasov, and a tough task is ahead of him when facing tournament No. 1 seed Mairis Briedis for a place in the final for the Ali Trophy and world domination.

How has the training ahead of the semi-final been going?
“Everything is going great and according to our plan. We had a camp in Spain, then we moved to the UK for sparing sessions and now we’re finishing our preparations in Warsaw.”

What do you think of your opponent Briedis?
“Briedis is a great, strong and skilled boxer, but he didn’t impress me too much in his last two fights. He was much better against Usyk or Huck. I first met Mairis in 2010 – he trained in our gym in Warsaw and he even had a fight on our event. He’s a nice guy and a world-class fighter.”

Do you have a message for him?
“Mairis, prepare for war, Glowka is coming. I’m going to win the Ali Trophy!”

What can the fans in Riga expect to see from you?
“Everybody who watched my fights knows I always fight hard from the first to the final bell. Even if I’m down on the scorecards like against Huck I still believe in myself and never give up. ‘It’s worth believing’ – this is my motto!”

Do you expect to see a lot of Polish fans in Riga?
“I know that a lot of my fans are going to Riga. Of course, Mairis will have much more fans in the arena, but I’m sure you will hear ‘Polska, Polska’ during our fight.”

What is your dream scenario for the fight?
“I can’t tell you everything right now, but I can reveal the name of the winner – it’s Krzysztof Głowacki. I have a great trainer, Fiodor Lapin, we’re working on plan A, B, C and so on … So I’ll be ready for every possible scenario, also the dream one.”

Have you been seeing or following the other divisions in the WBSS?
“Not too much. I have a huge challenge before me, so I’m focused on it. Mairis Briedis is the guy, I watch and follow right now.”

Who do you think you will face in the final?
“Yunier Dorticos beat my compatriot Mateusz Masternak in the quarter-final, so it would be nice if I could avenge the loss, but frankly speaking, I don’t really care, I can fight Dorticos, I can fight Tabiti. Let the best man win in their semi-final, because like i said, right now full focus on Mairis Briedis and it is going to be a war!”

The WBSS returns on June 15 with a sensational doubleheader at the Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia: Mairis Briedis vs Krzysztof Glowacki and Yunier Dorticos vs Andrew Tabiti for spots in the Cruiserweight Final for the Ali Trophy.

Tickets for the hotly-anticipated semi-final in Riga are on sale from: bilesuserviss.lv

All the action will be live on DAZN in the U.S. and Sky Sports in the U.K.

WBSS Season 2 Semi-Finals:

27 April – Cajundome, Lafayette, LA, USA

Regis Prograis vs Kiryl Relikh – Prograis W TKO6
Nonito Donaire vs Stephon Young – Donaire W KO6
18 May – The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
Josh Taylor vs Ivan Baranchyk – Taylor W UD12
Naoya Inoue vs Emmanuel Rodriguez – Inoue W TKO2
15 June – Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia

Mairis Briedis vs Krzysztof Glowacki
Yunier Dorticos vs Andrew Tabiti

WBO cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk beat WBC title holder Mairis Briedis by a majority points decision to unify the belts.

The two met in the semi-final of the World Boxing Super Series tournament and Usyk won 115-113, 115-113 and 114-114 in Latvia.

He will now meet the winner of IBF champion Murat Gassiev against WBA belt holder Yunier Dorticos in the final.

2012 Olympic Champion, 30-year-old Usyk expressed before the tournament his desire to unify the belts in the cruiserweight division and to take home the Muhammad Ali Trophy. And he kicked off in style:

The Ukrainian went to Berlin in Germany on September 9 in the tournament opener and produced a spectacular display at the Max-Schmeling-Arena to stop former world champion Marco Huck in the 10th round.

“I do not care where I fight,” said Usyk, the tournament’s number one seed. “In Riga, there were 10,000 fans and that’s great. The fans received a beautiful and interesting battle between two world champions.”

32-year-old Briedis excited an ecstatic hometown crowd at a sold-out Arena Riga on September 30 to score a unanimous decision in his quarter-final over the tough Cuban challenger Mike Perez.

The event will conclude in May and features a $50m prize fund.

That pool will be split across two tournaments, one for super-middleweights and one for cruiserweights, with each featuring eight fighters competing from a quarter-final stage.

Whoever wins the cruiserweight section will hold all four belts.

Usyk’s hard-fought win over Briedis extended the 31-year-old’s career record to 14 fights without defeat.

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