For Mairis Briedis, it was worth the wait.
Briedis outboxed Yuniel Dorticos to win a majority decision in the delayed final of the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament on Saturday night in Munich.
Two judges scored it 117-111; the third somehow had it 114-114. Most observers believe Briedis won clearly.
“It feels like a dream come true,” said Briedis, who also took Dorticos’ IBF 200-pound title.
The principals hadn’t fought since their semifinal matches in June, when Briedis (27-1, 19 KOs) stopped Krzysztof Glowacki and Dorticos (24-2, 22 KOs) did the same against Andrew Tabiti to win the vacant title.
The fight was fairly even for the first half of the fight. However, Briedis began to outwork a fading Dorticos in the second half to pull away on the two 117-111 cards.
The title is Briedis’ second. He was stripped of the WBO belt when he chose to fight Dorticos rather than Glowacki a second time.
Winning the tournament seemed more important than the title to Briedis. The WBSS winners are awarded the Ali Trophy.
“This,” Briedis said, “is the Olympic medal I’ve always wanted.”