Mairis Briedis and Yuniel Dorticos will face off on Wednesday at the kickoff press conference in Riga – exactly two months before they meet inside the ropes in Latvia’s capital.

Kalle Sauerland, WBSS Chief Boxing Officer, said: “There is a great passion for boxing in Latvia, the fans are among the best in the world, and they will aptly be treated with the best boxing can offer on March 21: a final for the Muhammad Ali Trophy, the iconic trophy known as the ‘greatest prize in boxing.This is undoubtedly the biggest sporting event in Latvian history,’”

Dorticos, the IBF World cruiserweight champion, has stated that his name is already engraved in the trophy and his opponent should prepare for war, while Briedis is expecting a thrilling fight with the whole world watching the pair battle it out at the Arena Riga.

“This is going to be the biggest sporting event in Latvian history,” said Kalle Sauerland. “You have Briedis, one of the toughest warriors in the sport, the man who took Usyk to the deep waters versus Dorticos, one of greatest knockout artists of the game, a man who is highly confident of going all the way. Briedis-Dorticos has all the ingredients to be another WBBS fight of the year contender

“The WBSS gives the boxers and fans clarity on who is the very best. And at cruiserweight, there is only one question left: Is it Briedis or Dorticos?”

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