In a rather forgettable encounter, WBC cruiserweight champion Mairis Briedis (23-0, 18 KOs) forwent the opportunity to impress but did come away with a decision victory over Mike Perez (22-3, 14 KOs) at a sold out Riga Arena in Riga, Latvia.

The win ensures his advance to the semi final of the World Boxing Super Series which will see him face Oleksandr Usyk in the next round.

The fight itself was filled with ugly exchanges and a lot of clinches. Briedis was cut over his left eye early in the bout. Perez was deducted a point but Briedis evened the scores in that aspect as he too was deducted a point in the tenth for holding. Scores at the end of the contest were 116-110, 115-111, 114-112 for Briedes.