WBSS Chief Boxing Officer Kalle Sauerland breaks down the hotly-anticipated Muhammad Ali Trophy Cruiserweight final at the Arena Riga on March 21.

“Last time in Riga we witnessed one of the most action-packed fight nights in WBSS history with our doubleheader semi-finals,” said Kalle Sauerland.

“Briedis-Glowacki and Dorticos-Tabiti were both extremely dramatic – the atmosphere electric – but ultimately skillfully finished by both Briedis and Dorticos.

“It sets up for another incredible drama in the final on March 21 between two forward coming fighters. Will Dorticos look for the one-punch KO, will Briedis make it war? I expect these two warriors to have an absolute barnstormer. There’ll be fireworks in Riga!”

The 118lbs and 140lbs finals of the World Boxing Super Series dominated all the Fight of the Year lists for 2019. The 200lbs final, the finale on Season 2 of the WBSS, contains the same potential for a classic.

“This fight between the best cruiserweights on the planet has all the ingredients to become another WBSS Fight of the Year-contender,” said the WBSS CBO. “It’s a fight, another WBSS event not to be missed and tickets are selling fast with just seven weeks until we have a new holder of the Muhammad Ali trophy, the greatest prize in boxing. Will there ever again be a fight of such magnitude in Latvia?”

The final will be broadcast live on DAZN in the U.S. Fans can visit DAZN.com or download the DAZN app to their preferred connected device.

The road to Riga:
Mairis Briedis and Yuniel Dorticos took parallel routes to the cruiserweight final of the WBSS. Briedis beat Noel Mikaelian on points in his quarter-final in Chicago and stopped Krzysztof Glowacki in Riga via TKO in the third round of a dramatic semi-final. Dorticos claimed a points victory over Mateusz Masternak in Chicago and a 10th round knockout of Andrew Tabiti in Riga – a KO that earned the ‘KO Doctor’ the IBF title and ‘Knockout of the Year’ prize across multiple media.

Muhammad Ali Trophy champions:
2018-19: Naoya Inoue, Bantamweight
2018-19: Josh Taylor, Super-Lightweight
2017-18: Aleksandr Usyk, Cruiserweight
2017-18: Callum Smith, Super Middleweight