Mairis Briedis vs Krzysztof Glowacki now for vacant WBC title

The June 15th Super Series cruiserweight semifinal between Mairis Briedis and Krsysztof Glowacki has received some additional stakes. WBC champion Oleksandr Usyk, whose heavyweight debut was scheduled for last month before injury struck, has been named “champion in recess,” leaving Briedis and Glowacki to duke it out for the vacant belt in Riga.

Manager Egis Klimas tells ESPN that Usyk intends to try his debut again in September. The former unified champion still technically holds the WBO and IBF titles, having relinquished the WBA belt rather than fight Denis Lebedev.

This makes two belts on the line on June 15th, as Glowacki (31-1, 19 KO) claimed the interim WBO belt in his quarterfinal victory over Maxim Vlasov. Briedis (25-1, 18 KO), who formerly held the WBC title before his loss to Usyk in the first Super Series’ semifinals, controversially edged Noel Mikaelian in his own quarterfinal bout.

I will say that this is a bit weird from a rankings standpoint; Briedis and Glowacki are nowhere to be seen in the WBC rankings, but the highest-ranked contenders (behind the heavyweight-bound Murat Gassiev) are Andrew Tabiti and Yuniel Dorticos, who will fight on the same Riga card. Not that it really matters, since the winners of each bout will fight each other anyway; I just thought it was interesting.