BoxRec

Mairis Briedis is set to battle Marco Huck for the chance to challenge Tony Bellew for the full WBC cruiserweight championship.

Ordered by the WBC when Bellew decided to move up in a bid to face UK rival David Haye at heavyweight, mandatory challenger Briedis puts his position at number one on the line in a bid to claim the interim belt.

The winner will then either face Bellew in the summer for the green and gold title or be elevated to full status should the current ruler decide on remaining in the top division.

Following rounds of talks over the festive period and beyond, a deal has now been struck in principal between Briedis and IBO belt holder Huck for Germany on April Fool’s Day.

“I got contracts through on Monday and Briedis v Huck is 90% certain to be 1st of April in Germany. We hope to be finalized shortly,” Briedis representative Al Siesta exclusively told World Boxing News.

“Everything is OK with the fight apart from a couple of things which will be fixed. Briedis v Huck is happening 99% and we are in contact with Mauricio Sulaiman of the World Boxing Council regarding negotiations.”

Undefeated Briedis has been patient since working his way to the top of the rankings, having featured on Bellew’s undercard victory over BJ Flores in Liverpool last October.

Will be such a good fight, the toughest in Briedis career. I think he will give "Germany's Pride" Marco Huck trouble, but can't win IMO, when Briedis' fought vs his toughest opponent (Olanrewaju Durodola) he did ok but not so impressive so that can really show trouble like Ola Afolabi or even win like Krzysztof Glowacki or Alexander Povetkin (those who outboxed huck nice in their fights vs him).

http://www.badlefthook.com/2017/1/5/141 ... for-spring

imaioral wrote:Would be such a good fight, the toughest Briedis in his career. I think he will give "Germany's Pride" Marco Huck trouble, but can't win since Briedis' toughest opponent (Olanrewaju Durodola) did ok but not so impressive so that can really show trouble like Ola Afolabi or even win like Krzysztof Glowacki or Alexander Povetkin (those who outboxed huck nice in their fights vs him).

http://www.badlefthook.com/2017/1/5/141 ... for-spring

Experience is on Huck's side. I think he beat Povetkin.. He's not really old either.

I lean slightly towards Huck since he seems to have recovered well from the Glowacki loss, but Briedis is undefeated and nobody's been able to go the distance with him in the last few years. Pretty much a 50/50 fight. I hope there's some US TV coverage.

Tremendous fight in a division that is stacked with talent. I see this fight like this... Huck has the better resume and has fought the better competition. However, at this stage of their careers Briedis has more power and is the fresher fighter.

Also, we must consider that this fight is taking place in Germany. The country of Germany has been known to put on some great fights and they have a great atmosphere, but I really hope the judging in this fight is fair IF it goes the distance.