“There are opinions.” Usyk’s former rival can resume his professional career

Former world champion in cruiserweight Mairis Briedis admitted that he constantly thinks about the possibility of resuming his professional career:

“To be honest, there are thoughts about returning to the ring. I did not stop training even after the end of my career, but I do it for myself. I like that after I left boxing, I don’t have to push myself too hard. There is no psychological responsibility.

I’m in good shape now, but I injured my shoulder before my last fight with Jay Opetaya. I managed to heal the injury, but in sparring I got damaged for the second time. The doctor said: “People with such injuries cannot tie their shoes, how will you box?”

It was a real test for me. In the first rounds, he could not do anything at all. There was no muscle memory to do everything automatically. I believe that he showed a good fight with an injured shoulder and Opetaia could have been knocked down or knocked out several times,” said Briedis.

The Latvian boxer met Oleksandr Usyk in January 2018 – gave a competitive fight, but lost by majority decision.