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Last year when the World Boxing Super Series concept was announced it was described as going to be for boxing what the UEFA Champions League is for football (soccer if your one of my American readers) which at the time seemed like a massive claim but my god they have delivered it . The Riga Arena was a fantastic venue for boxing but when you add in the very distinct set up of the WBSS and the electric  atmosphere in the arena , it was like nothing i had ever experienced before at any boxing event . The dust had hardly settled from the fantastic semi-final in Riga when we had the second semi-final , this time in Adler ,Russia . Countless time throughout the fight Gassiev caught the Cuban with beautiful counters which were getting round Dorticos guard , showing exactly how tough this cuban was .

On Saturday night WBO Cruiserweight World Champion Oleksandr Usyk will take on WBC World Champion Marius Breidis in Riga Latvia , the first of the Semi Final clashes and once again we will be there on the ground taking in this fantastic tourniment in a fantastic city . Despite having a high KO ratio and looking like a man mountain Usyk doesn’t have that one punch KO power , his style is to beat you down mentally and physically , again very much like Lomachenko . Mairis Briedis is coming off a win against Mike Perez in the last round of the WBSS , but as the fight was a snooze fest it wouldn’t have won him many more fans outside of Latvia   , but Briedis is a talented fighter though . I think Usyk’s high output and constant movement will break Briedis mentally and physically which will show in the later rounds .

Gary comes from a real fighting family with four older brothers being Amateur Champions in Mayo Ireland , with his brother/mentor and now trainer Micheal Sweeney also being a former professional but Gary says it all goes back to his Grandfather . Gary’s family comes from a traveling background which seems to go hand in hand in boxing nowadays with stars like Billy Joe Saunders and the Fury’s being some of the biggest name in the UK boxing today . Gary will be fighting in a six rounder on the MTK London card on March 3rd and although Gary doesn’t know who his opponents is yet , he is expecting it to be someone who will put him through his paces so he is coming over to Scotland to get some sparring with British Title challenger Stephen Simmons . I am part of the MTK Global team and they have me out sparring all over the place which is just brilliant “ Fighting on this MTK London card will give Gary the opertunity of some big exposure in a small hall context due to there partnership with IFL TV who stream the cards on youtube .

In today’s ultra connected world where everything is instantly out there and accessible this tactic is ever more risky as its a fine line between cocky and down right offensive and in today’s overly sensitive world that is a very dangerous game to play . Before that he was calling the people of Liverpool minimum wage peasants causing massive uproar , but all the time being rewarded with big pay days and slots on big shows , reportedly earning over £100,000 for the Josh Taylor fight , but now it has all turned a bit sour for Ohara . At the beginning of January Ohara Davies sent out a tweet which got him caught up in the murky waters of Liverpool’s city wide Anti Sun newspaper campaign , which go’s back to the newspaper lies about victims of the Hillsborough Disaster . This time he’s touched on something that can damage the reputation of Hearn’s brand and that’s why Hearn had to act .