WBSS: Briedis KOs Glowacki for WBO cruiser title

Photos: Sumio Yamada

In a World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight semi-final, Mairis Briedis (26-1, 19 KOs) dethroned WBO world champion Krzysztof “Head” Glowacki (31-2, 19 KOs) by thrilling and controversial third round KO on Saturday night at the Riga Arena in Riga, Latvia.
Briedis Glowacki
Briedis put Glowacki on the deck with an intentional elbow and was deducted a point. when action resumed, Briedis knocked down the still reeling Glowacki. Referee Robert Byrd didn’t react to the bell and they kept fighting probably ten additional seconds, culminating with Briedis knocking down Glowacki again. Both came out firing in round three and Briedis floored Glowacki a third time to end it. Time was :27.

Only the WBO belt was on the line as the WBC revoked sanctioning over a dispute with the WBSS on the selection of officials.

It will be Briedis vs. Dorticos in the WBSS final.


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  • Absolute farce of a fight. That elbow took everything away from Glowacki and the ref just tells him to get up? The second knockdown came way after the round had finished. Wtf was going on here? Ref needs to get his act together, was absolute rubbish.

    • Robert Byrd is a s*** ref along with his corrupt wife as a judge and they both need to be banned from the sport.

        • If your dog has the same last name he can be a referee too! Isn’t Adelaide the one who had Canelo winning the first Golovkin fight 118-110 or some ridiculous score close to that! Should have been banned after that.

    • Too much politicking in refereeing just like judging. People get picked because they have the same family name but not a clue what they’re doing! One of the last great referees was Mills Lane. Met him once and he comes across just like he did in the ring. No BS! He refereed the last Holyfield-Tyson bite fight.

  • Kind of inconclusive in a sour ending for a technical knockout for the Latvian. He needs to be on point and fight a smarter fight if he’s going to beat the Cuban in the finals. I think Breidis can do it as he is faster than Dorticos and has enough power to knock him out too.

  • Everybody talks about the elbow. Nobody mentions Glowacki’s blatant punch to the back of the head. That punch was as illegal as the elbow. To equalize the proceedings, Briedis got a deduction.
    I have to agree that that’s not the way fights are supposed to go, but given that both employed dirty tactics, I see no one-sided advantage given.

    • Please do not even compare punch in back of the head, which sometimes happens to elbow move. It’s a f*** disgrace.

    • Punches in the back of the head happen almost every fight, look at the punch that Głowacki through in the back of the head, and than look at the knockdown punch from Briedis in the back of the head and nobody is crying about that. Briedis should of been dq after that elbow no doubt about it. I understand its his hometown begging of the fight so at least the ref should of have Głowacki more time.. Listen to the ref he said get up to Głowacki..

    • The blow to the back of the head didn’t look like it landed with much impact. The elbow was full impact and like a free shot on an unsuspecting person. Byrd really lost control and at the very least Glowacki should have had at least five minutes. But the attempted blow to the back of the head was a foul. It’s just that the elbow had so much more impact on the fight. Along with bad refereeing.

  • He definitely threw a rabbit punch and that’s obviously bad, but the ref should’ve been all over it. Instead we get a retaliation, a dazed boxer just being told to get up like nothing happened, and then getting sparked out again after the bell. Definitely an unfair advantage.

  • Even though I think Breidis was probably going to win anyway, the way it happened was not within the rules. The Polish fighter should have been given 5 minutes to recover from the elbow. After that, he was dazed and wobbly legged . His fate was sealed at that point.

  • I did not see the fight, and have to see it. If Robert Byrd was the referee, he should definitely be banned from refereeing fights, as he apparently totally lost control of this fight. Can’t imagine that Glowakcki’s management will not protest the fight. Wasn’t there some other comments that in some other fights that Bredis was a dirty fighter? Don’t know. With what happened in this fight, the WBC when they withdrew their sanctioning of this fight, is coming out looking somewhat better than they did before the fight.

  • That should be a NC with an immediate rematch and Robert Byrd should not be allowed a hundred miles from a pro boxing rig again. At 74 he clearly needs to retire or was paid off, I hope it is not the latter. That Elbow was worse than in a MMA fight and he clearly was still hurt bad from it without 5 minutes to recover. Horrible decision that is a continuation of the black eye for our sport and again, which the Byrd family is a part of.

    • I would agree that 74 is too old. He didn’t hear the bell for christ’s sake!

  • Fight was a rubish for sure, however Briedis cant be blamed on reffs stupidity,

    Glowcky asked up badly for the elbow(still nasty tho, but you get what you ask for)

    End of the 2nd round clearly badly overseen by the reff, tho both kept fighting.

    should be a rematch tho.

  • WTF is going on in this world? Is this not the 21st century? How are these European countries still getting away with this crap? Las Vegas giving gift decisions to fighters like Alvarez and Ward are one thing, but this shit is ridiculous! Chris Byrd summed it up best when he said you need to knock a guy out to get a draw in Germany.

  • Another incompetent BYRD ref’ing the fight! The guy should be penalized for not seeing what was right in front of his eyes! If I were a decent fighter, I wouldn’t have him, or his wife Adelaide, control another fight?? As for the fight, Glowacki was under complete control until he hit Breidis behind the head, where Breidis retaliated with an elbow shot that was vicious! After that, Glowacki lost all control and started swinging wildly and leaving himself open at the same time! It was a different fight after the elbow incident!

  • Robert Byrd is 74 years old. I am 62, and i can tell you from watching Byrd referee the fight, he has no business being a referee.

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