"Someone wants to play war": Usyk's ex-opponent from Latvia pretended that Russia did not attack Ukraine

Former Latvian boxer Mairis Briedis has made an ambiguous statement about Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. The former opponent of Oleksandr Usyk, for whom the fight against the native of Riga was incredibly difficult, expressed a strange opinion that most people in our country do not understand what is happening.

Briedis said this in an interview with the Rus TVNet YouTube channel. The former heavyweight champion according to the International Boxing Federation (IBF) did not criticize the aggressor country for invading Ukraine, and also called on politicians to "take dancing shoes and fight among themselves."

"I thought that once or twice it would be over. Then I went to Ukraine to show that I care about the athletes there. Because there are a lot of great athletes in Ukraine. The same Usyk. The majority of people there have nothing to do with what's going on. The fact that someone wants to play war games there... Well, go to the field, play in the war. Why should ordinary people suffer? Why? I am against it. If you want to fight, here is the ring. Take your tanks and fight each other," Briedis said.

It should be noted that after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Mairis wrote a very neutral post on his social media about the war, without condemning the aggressor and dictator Vladimir Putin. After that, Latvians took revenge on the boxer by writing the letter Z on his face on a campaign poster.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!