WBO Declares Cruiserweight Title Vacant After Mairis Briedis Opts To Not Fight Krzysztof Glowacki
The Mairis Briedis/Krzysztof Glowacki saga appears to be over.
In an official letter written by the WBO, it has been declared that Briedis is no longer the cruiserweight champions as he elected not to pursue a rematch against Glowacki. The WBO previously ordered a fight between the two with a deadline of November 21 to negotiate a deal.
With Briedis no longer having to worry about a title defense against Glowacki, he will now focus on his upcoming World Boxing Super Series finals against IBF champion Yunier Dorticos. A date and venue for that fight has yet to be announced.
It was back in July when the WBO announced that Glowacki would fight the Briedis vs. Dorticos winner after Glowacki and his representatives argued that his fight against Briedis, which was a WBSS semifinal bout in June, should be overturned from a Briedis win to a no contest. This was after a bizarre sequence of events that led to Glowacki being knocked out in the third round.
The fight between the two saw Briedis intentionally elbow Glowacki in retaliation to a Rabbit Punch thrown by Glowacki in the second round. Briedis also knocked Glowacki down after the second round ended, but both men continued fighting after the bell as referee Robert Byrd said he did not hear the bell. Briedis would go on to stop Glowacki early in round three to win the WBO title and advance to the finals. Glowacki and his camp had hoped the fight result would be overturned and be deemed a “No Contest” as Briedis said in a post-fight interview that his elbow on Glowacki was intentional.
Several weeks a, Glowacki and his team filed an appeal and hoped to still get a rematch against Briedis, which led to the WBO ordering one a couple of weeks ago. As for the fate of the WBO cruiserweight title, there is a strong chance that Glowacki and Lawrence Okolie (ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively) will be ordered to fight for the vacant belt.
