The Knockout Doctor can start preparing the operating table. After a long wait, the clash between Yuniel Dorticós and Mairis Briedis is expected to be announced for 21st of March in Riga, Latvia.
International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion, Dorticós, will look to add the Muhammad Ali trophy by coming away with a win in the World Boxing World Series final of their cruiserweight tournament, and also earn him a $2 million purse.
This meeting should have taken place in December 2019, but legal issues surrounding the Latvian's last match delayed the finalization of their contest.
"Already with a fixed date, we will perfect the camp for that fight with Briedis,'' said Pedro Roque, coach of Dorticós, to George Ebro. "We'll be taking every precaution and we're not going to leave anything to chance. We'll come prepared for that fight.''
Dorticós made his way to the final bout by beating Andrew Tabiti, one of the protégés of Floyd Mayweather's stable, with a brutal knockout victory.
Briedis, for his part, defeated Krzysztof Glowacki via knockout in the semi-final, but he did so in a controversial manner and aided by the referee's bad work, it prompting a legal battle.
After many comings and goings, the World Boxing Organization decided that the clash between Briedis and Glowacki should take place again, but it also did not prevent the boxer from continuing in the WBSS as long as the title of the agency was vacated.
Eventually, Briedis abandoned the belt and chose to fight Dorticós. Both boxers were eliminated in the first ever WBSS cruiserweight tournament, which Oleksandr Usyk win in the final.
"We have studied Briedis a lot and we know that we must be very attentive to everything that he brings," Roque added. "But Dorticós is a much more complete boxer, with a phenomenal punch. I repeat that we will be ready for whatever Briedis may bring, hidden or not."