Although the WBC removed the sanctioning for the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight semifinals, expect the governing body to put its vacant cruiserweight title up for grabs in the tournament finals.
According to a report from ESPN's Dan Rafael, the WBC expects to have the tournament finale between world champions Mairis Briedis and Yuniel Dorticos to be for the vacant title, adding a third championship. Not only would the WBC belt be on the line, but also the WBO and IBF titles as well, meaning the WBSS winner will hold three of the four major titles needed to be called undisputed champion.
The WBC title was originally supposed to be on the line in the semifinals, but after issues with referee and judge selection occurred, the governing body pulled the title off the tournament hours before the semifinal round started and ended in Riga, Latvia.
“We expect that rules will be in order and things will be fully agreed to with plenty of time to avoid unfortunate problems as last time,” Sulaiman said.
This is not only good news for both Briedis and Dorticos, but also for Krzysztof Glowacki, who was eliminated by Briedis in the semifinals. Due to the controversial nature of the fight, that saw several illegal actions being done by both fighters and incompetent refereeing allowing the second round to continue for 10 seconds and resulting in Glowacki being knocked down after the second round bell sounded. Due to the numerous issues of the fight, the WBO ruled that the Briedis vs. Dorticos winner should fight Glowacki next.
Briedis would end up winning the WBO title with a third-round stoppage win over Glowacki while Dorticos knocked out Andrew Tabiti to win the IBF title and become a two-time world champion.
