Mairis Briedis TKOs Artur Mann To Defend IBF, Ring Magazine World Cruiserweight Title, Might Be Last Fight In Latvia For A While

By Fight Sports Oct 18, 2021 Last updated Oct 19, 2021

Saturday might’ve been Mairis Briedis’ last fight in Latvia, his home country.

And if Latvia won’t be seeing his hometown boxer for a while, at least he ended it off with a win. Briedis (28-1, 20 KOs) scored a third-round stoppage over Germany’s Artur Mann (17-2 9 KOs), successfully defending his IBF and Ring Magazine world cruiserweight titles at the Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia.

“Thank you to all the fans who came to support me. You are fantastic,” Briedis said. “My opponent was not easy. We prepared very well for this fight and invested a lot of time and work. I am happy to defend my titles and I look forward to collecting more belts soon.”

Briedis went to work in the second round as he landed a solid right hand that dropped Mann to the canvas for an eight-count.

Briedis continued to charge forward on his Germany opponent, dropping him again with 40 seconds left in the round. Mann went down a third time — under a barrage of punches — not too long after getting up for the second knockdown.

Mann told the referee there was a low blow before dropping down to one knee in pain. The referee then waved off the fight.

Briedis mentioned that this would be one of his last bouts in front of his home country as he pursues bigger challenges in cruiserweight and explores heavyweight more.

His only loss was served by former cruiserweight champion and current heavyweight multititleholder Oleksandr Usyk.