Mairis Briedis Retires: Celebrating the Top Five Cruiserweights of All Time

Cruiserweight boxing has produced some phenomenal boxers – and continues to be a vital part of the boxing landscape. It’s a fascinating division that has shown us a unique mix of skill and power. One legendary cruiserweight Mairis Briedis has announced his retirement – which has led us to compile our top five cruiserweights of all time.

Mairis Briedis Announces Retirement from Boxing

Top Five Cruiserweight Boxers of all Time

Briedis enjoyed a successful career as a cruiserweight, winning the WBC, WBO, and IBF titles during his 15-year career, and he was involved in several big fights. He was last seen in the ring losing a competitive contest to Jai Opetaia on the Fury vs. Usyk undercard.

The Latvian fighter spoke on his retirement decision: “Today I want to share a decision that was not easy for me to make. First of all, because the path that I have walked over the years has been filled with so many unforgettable moments and joys of victory, it has made me the person I am today and has allowed me to pursue new goals and achievements all this time, which has served as a drive for me to always strive for more. This pursuit of more has, in turn, been the other side of the coin, where I have not always been able to fully explain myself, my intentions in several situations, and this has remained something that I will have to work on in the future.”

He continued: “But despite everything, with the deepest gratitude to every person who has supported or motivated me at some point, or simply followed my progress, I would like to say thank you for these 25 years and officially announce the end of my professional boxing career.”

Oleksandr Usyk – 22-0, 14 KOs

What can you say about Oleksandr Usyk? He has proved himself as a pound-for-pound great, conquering the cruiserweight division with memorable wins against Briedis, Murat Gassiev and Tony Bellew. The Ukrainian became undisputed at cruiserweight before later becoming undisputed at heavyweight, defeating Tyson Fury.

Evander Holyfield – 44-10-2, 29 KOs

Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield enjoyed a glittering boxing career, at cruiserweight before moving up to have success at heavyweight. While at cruiserweight Holyfield was involved in memorable bouts including his split decision war against Dwight Muhammad Qawi and a brutally efficient win against Carlos De Leon to win the WBA, WBC, and IBF titles. It wasn’t a long spell at cruiserweight for “The Real Deal” but what a spell it was.

David Haye – 28-4, 26 KOs

David Haye at cruiserweight and heavyweight was pure box office. While campaigning at cruiserweight, Haye suffered a surprising loss to the experienced Carl Thompson in a back-and-forth clash for the IBO world title. “The Hayemaker” won the European cruiserweight title when he destroyed Alexander Gurov in one round. A defence against Giacobbe Fragomeni was soon followed by an entertaining shootout against Jean Marc Mormeck for the WBC belt. His finest moment at cruiserweight came in his second-round destruction of Enzo Maccarinelli at the 02 Arena to win the WBO title. “The Hayemaker” from his legendary brash ring walk to his KO power was one of the most captivating boxers to watch.

Mairis Briedis – 28-3, 20 KOs

Briedis deserves his spot in our top five for his come-forward pressure style and punching power. He enjoyed many notable nights in his career, with a win over Marco Huck, followed by his World Boxing Super Series semi-final victory against Mike Perez. Despite losing the WBSS final to Usyk, the Latvian fighter came out with a lot of credit and pushed Usyk all the way, landing heavier punches throughout. Briedis was a fearsome cruiserweight who also had success at heavyweight. He could punch and pick his shots exceptionally well.

Juan Carlos Gomez – 55-4, 40 KOs

Juan Carlos Gomez, the German-based Cuban was a fearsome cruiserweight who ended his career with 40 KOs, which came from impressive volume punching and not that one-punch power. He amassed an amateur record of 158-12 before going pro. His best wins at cruiserweight came against Jorge Castro and Pietro Aurino. The third-round stoppage win over Imamu Mayfield was also impressive. He had his troubles outside of the ring, but inside when prepared, Gomez was a brilliant boxer who overwhelmed his opponents with his brilliant volume and accuracy.

Honourable mentions go to James Toney, Vassiliy Jirov and Marco Huck.