“…and the new, Cruiserweight Champion of the World…Mairis Briedis!”
On September 26th, 2020, Latvia’s Mairis Briedis defeated Yuniel Dorticos via 12 round majority decision in Munich, Germany, to become the new king at Cruiserweight.
Click here to see our full list of Lineal Cruiserweight Champions, from 1980 – Present.
The Lineal Champions and fights in which the Championship changed hands are listed, along with supporting information/references, explaining how Championship vacancies have been created and filled.
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The Cruiserweight division, which initially had a limit of 190lbs, was formed by the WBC in 1979, to bridge the gap between the 175lbs Light Heavyweight limit, and the ever-growing giants, within the “no limit” Heavyweight division. Marvin Camel drew with Mate Parlov in 1979, but it was his victorious rematch on March 31, 1980, that won him the WBC belt, and crowned him as the division’s first World Champion.
In the mid-late 1980s, Evander Holyfield’s all-action style helped gain the Cruiserweights some much needed attention and respect - however, he soon moved up in weight to seek more lucrative and prestigious match-ups. The size of the average Heavyweight continued to increase, leading the WBC, in 2003, to raise the upper limit to 200lbs - an act the other sanctioning bodies soon followed.
The 2017-18 inaugural World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) tournament included a high calibre line up, which ultimately led to Oleksandr Usyk outclassing Murat Gassiev over 12 rounds to win the vacant Lineal Championship. The tournament’s high quality match-ups improved the reputation of the whole division, perhaps more so than ever before.
In 2019 Usyk departed to Heavyweight, but fortunately, the second WBSS Cruiserweight tournament soon followed, and set up a finale between the division’s top contenders, Mairis Briedis and Yuniel Dorticos.
Mairis Briedis. Photo credit: World Boxing Super Series.