By Ryan Songalia

It has been 9 months since former WBO heavyweight titlist Shannon Briggs dropped a decision to Sultan Ibragimov, in turn losing his valuable foothold in a shallow division. Since that disappointment, Briggs has been invisible as Wladimir Klitschko stepped forward as the most viable heavyweight, with Samuel Peter following in a distant second place. Briggs now appears ready to reemerge from his sabbatical, calling out everyone and anyone in the division. Ready to put the sting of the Ibragimov misadventure behind him, Briggs was loud, abrasive and defiant in his conversation with BoxingScene.com.

BoxingScene.com: What have you been up to since your last fight?

Shannon Briggs: "I've just been working, I own a few businesses. I've just been sitting back watching a lot of boxing and watching the heavyweight picture unfold into what it is. I feel quite disrespected watching Klitschko fight Ibragimov and Peter versus Maskaev."

BoxingScene: The last I'd heard of you was that you were interested in fighting Wladimir Klitschko. Why hasn't that fight materialized?

Briggs: "I had the title and went to the Klitschko-Brock fight and he didn't want to fight me. I was supposed to be in the Brock fight. Shelly Finkel wound up getting sued by Cedric Kushner because that fight didn't materialize. Meanwhile, Finkel was telling everybody that he had us signed to fight Klitschko. Kushner wound up winning the lawsuit for that. I went and challenged him, he didn't want to fight me.

"They keep him away from punchers. Ray Austin? C'mon, he was my sparring partner. Aside from Chris Byrd, who was past his prime and fought him in Germany, where a lot of shady sh*t goes down, who has he fought? Lamon Brewster, who hadn't fought in two years. The last fight he was in he got the breaks beat off him by Sergei Lyakhovich. In his last fight he looked like a little girl slapping at Sultan. In the fight I heard Max Kellerman say he has a great jab like Lennox Lewis. What great jab, you mean jab and pull back because you're scared? How about when he was flopping on the floor against Sam Peter? I'm just stating the facts."

BoxingScene: You've claimed that you weren't 100% when you fought Sultan Ibragimov. What was wrong and why did you compete in a compromised state?

Briggs: "I fought Ibragimov with pneumonia. They threatened to sue me if they didn't get their fight. Their doctors said I had pneumonia and there was no way I could fight. I got the medical records to prove it. The WBO was talking about stripping me. They wanted to strip me, sue me. I didn't have any support. Nobody said they'd give me, what the hell did they give Vitali 'Quitschko', The Super Venus champion or some sh*t, some sh*t I never heard of. They made up a new name for him to come back to fight for the title after pulling out of 4-5 different fights. I can't even say the sh*t. It's some Greek sh*t. There's a lot of bullsh*t and 'poli-tricks.' All I'm saying is give me a fair shake. It's like how George Bush did with the election a few years ago, rigging the votes.

"They knew I wasn't training. They were training with Jeff Mayweather, who was training me the fight before. He jumped ship, he's a traitor. I went to their doctors because they thought I was faking the illness. My doctor said it would 2-4 months before I could start training. Their doctor said it could be anywhere from 6 months to a year before I start training again. They come back 20 days later and said if I didn't fight I would be stripped, sued, and maybe banned from boxing for pulling out. It was either fight or feed my family. If I didn't fight the guy, I would've been stripped and not make a buck. How am I going to feed my two kids? I cracked his ass in the first round and he ran for the next 12 rounds. I wasn't in the shape to chase him."

BoxingScene: Have you been at least staying in the gym and training while waiting for a fight?

Briggs: "Yes, but you know it doesn't matter because I can't get a fight. John Ruiz has won and lost the title for years. He just fought a fight against McCline, which will get him a title shot for sure. Andrew Golata just fought Mike Mollo and there's talks of him getting another title shot. I lost to Ibragimov in a 12 round decision and I can't get a title shot. It's politics. I want to fight Sam Peter, or Sam Cheater. These guys don't want to fight Shannon Briggs."

BoxingScene: In your words, why would the fans be interested in seeing you in another big fight?

Briggs: "Because if it's about the fans, I'm exciting. I'm the last American Heavyweight champion. I'm the only guy who can get the job done right now. Can John Ruiz beat Klitschko? No, because he's too small and doesn't hit hard enough. We had Chambers go up against Povetkin, we saw how that went down. I won 13 in a row before my loss, that doesn't entitle me to a title shot?"

BoxingScene: Aside from the fighters you've already mentioned, who else are you interested in fighting?

Briggs: "The guy who beat Valuev, what's his name? I'm willing to fight Valuev! I'm willing to fight anybody. I've been in this game since 1992. All of the guys I was in the game with, Jeremy Williams, David Tua, they came and went. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I'm not crying, I'm not bitching. I make a great living doing what I'm doing. I have a beautiful family, a beautiful home. All I'm saying is that when I look at Sam Peter-Maskaev fight, it looked like a 55 year old and a 60 year old fighting, it makes me disgusted. I know I can beat both of these guys at the same time and they're still making money. How is it that Maskaev won a title, he fought one bum, then fought 15 months later. They never stripped him, they gave Peter another belt. This sh*t is like a f**king jigsaw puzzle. The American public is sitting back and letting that sh*t happen."

BoxingScene: Why have you not been active since the Ibragimov fight?

Briggs: "I've been inactive because the fights aren't there, really. I'm willing to go to Germany to fight any of these guys. I want to go to Nigeria to fight Sam Pedialite. The fights haven't been offered because they don't want to fight me."

Any questions or comments? Send them to me at mc_rson@yahoo.com