WBO Orders WBSS Cruiserweight Tournament Winner To Face Krzysztof Glowacki Next

Krzysztof Glowacki will now be able to look forward to an opportunity to win multiple world titles after the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament concludes.

After the WBO “strongly recommended” WBSS officials and the winner of the upcoming finals between cruiserweight champions Mairis Briedis and Yuniel Dorticos face Glowacki once the tournament ends, all parties involved agreed to the ruling. With the WBSS accepting the prior ruling, the WBO has officially ordered the Briedis-Dorticos winner face Glowacki within 120 after the conclusion of the tournament.

The ruling came after Glowacki and his representatives argued that his fight against Briedis, which was a WBSS semifinal bout, should be overturned from a Briedis win to a no contest 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.

However, the WBO stated that such a decision can only be made within the jurisdiction of the Latvian Boxing Federation, meaning that unless Latvia changes the result, Briedis is still the winner by third-round TKO and still the WBO cruiserweight champion. 

Aside from Glowacki essentially being guaranteed a shot at the WBO title, the sanctioning body also suggested to its ratings committee that Briedis be installed as the No. 1 cruiserweight contender in its upcoming rankings release, set to be unveiled in the coming days. Glowacki currently sits in at No. 2 in the WBO rankings.

The tournament finals, which also include title unifications at bantamweight and junior welterweight, have yet to be announced, but WBSS officials are hoping all three fights take place before the end of 2019.