By Cliff Rold
Magazine covers, a couch spot places like the Tonight Show…these are just some of the things that seemingly have been the purview of the king of boxing over the years. From November 11, 1997 to March 28, 1998, it should have been the purview of Shannon Briggs. Those were the dates during which he, and he alone, was the true World heavyweight champion and yet when he walks into a room today not enough call him champ.
As Brooklyn’s Briggs (48-4-1, 42 KO) prepares to defend his WBO belt against Sultan Ibragimov (20-0-1, 17 KO) of Russia this Saturday night in Atlantic City, the dozens of features and columns (some at this site) leading up their pay-per-view showdown are remarkable for the few times Briggs’ former position is made clear. One notable writer recently stated a case for the significance of the lineal heavyweight crown and skipped from Foreman to Lewis, willfully leaving Briggs out.
It’s a discredit to those who refuse to note Briggs place in history and it’s disrespectful to Briggs. Briggs reign was not memorable but it did occur and the words “former World heavyweight champion” belong next to his name. Whether one agrees with the decision that gave him the crown or not, it was his moment and it’s long past time he get his just due.
The man he defeated that autumn evening in 1997, George Foreman, had recaptured the lineal crown (and two alphabet belts: WBA & IBF) and the public imagination at age 45 only two years earlier with a 10th round knockout of reigning king Michael Moorer. His actions following that win sent the division into disarray. Foreman was almost immediately stripped by the WBA; they filled that vacancy with a bout between Bruce Seldon and Tony Tucker. The IBF would suddenly vault Axel Schultz, an unknown from Germany into their mandatory spot.
History has taught us that Schultz’s position in the rankings was largely bought from the IBF with the influence of Foreman’s promotional team Top Rank; when he took advantage of that opportunity in the ring and lost a highly controversial decision, Schultz found himself on the outside looking in for a mandated rematch. Foreman was subsequently stripped of his IBF belt as well.
Over the next year, Foreman would defend twice more in his second reign as king against the woeful Crawford Grimsley and the adequate Lou Savarese. The title belts, and attention of the sports media, shifted to a freshly paroled Mike Tyson. It didn’t matter that Tyson wasn’t fighting killers; by September 1996 he had picked up two title belts and Foreman’s claim to the title was ignored.
Foreman was introduced for his fights as the ‘lineal’ king, but Tyson and his conqueror Evander Holyfield cast a shadow. That shadow would consume Briggs reign.
It didn’t help that Briggs victory over Foreman was wrought with argument against it. It is today regarded by some as one of the sports lesser nights at the judging table. Foreman outlanded and outworked the younger man for twelve rounds, only for judges Larry Layton and Calvin Claxton to rule that it was not enough.
The controversy didn’t change the result. The official verdict, the one that matters, will always state that Briggs was the victor that night. History dictates that such was enough to declare him the champion. Foreman had not officially lost following the win over Moorer, nor had he retired. The lineage of the sports most glorious crown rested only in Briggs grasp no matter how much some of the press, or the box office, wished and mislead for it to be otherwise.
Bad decisions have never allowed for history to be rewritten quite as awfully as Briggs reign has been. Jersey Joe Walcott defeated Joe Louis cold in their first bout and lost the decision; Louis’ rematch victory is never referred to as the moment when he became the first man ever to regain the crown. He didn’t because the official verdict in the first Walcott bout made that impossible.
Walcott in turn is never referred to as a two-time heavyweight champion, nor is Ken Norton’s clear victory over Muhammad Ali in their third fight, regardless of the cards turned in that night in 1977, ever used to turn his later WBC title reign into the whole enchilada. Bad decisions are part of boxing, official verdicts stand, and Briggs received his.
To his credit, Briggs went out a champion. In his first defense, he was halted in five by Lennox Lewis in a bout that saw both men cover themselves in honor. He all but dropped Lewis in the second round before being sent to the canvas repeatedly, rising each time for a little more of the same. Briggs went out on his shield, like he had something to lose. It’s long past time that everyone recognizes that he did.
This weekend, Briggs will be fighting, at 35, towards the goal of recapturing the title he lost that night in 1998. He, along with Evander Holyfield and Hasim Rahman, is one of only three men still active to have once worn the true heavyweight title. Still vacant three years after the retirement of Lennox Lewis, the World heavyweight title awaits a single man to claim it. If Briggs can defeat Ibragimov, he will be a step closer to that end.
If he gets all the way there, Briggs will be the first man ever forced to win the title twice just so everyone will call him champ once.
Live Fights: Argument number infinity that boxing is not dead was on display last Friday night at the Washington, DC Armory. Nearly 4,000 fans, paid, attended an entertaining six fight card highlighting the depth of local talent. The cards feature attraction, the undefeated Brother Peterson (Anthony 22-0, 17 KO; Lamont 20-0, 8 KO) eschewed their boxing skill to gun for knockouts of Luis Jose and veteran John Brown respectively. Each was successful and the fans let them know it.
Neither was necessarily the best man on the card. The Peterson’s are the current draw for the ‘Headbangers’ boxing crew, but it was an off-TV attraction that may color their team in greatest glory. Lightweight Tyrone Barnett (9-0-1, 7 KO) was in soft, but he showed off exceptional speed, defense and some pop. He’s one to keep an eye on for the future.
And there will be a future. PMG Promotions, headed by New York Knicks star Steve Francis, did a phenomenal promotional job. The Peterson’s were featured in all of the local papers, radio advertising could be heard throughout the week, and posters could even be found around town. Put another way, the promoters let the locals know that a solid professional boxing card was coming up, full of kids from the area, and the people showed. I don’t mean to get all W.P. Kinsella, but ‘if you build it, they will come.’ Shockingly, promotion is not rocket science.
For all its ills, boxing can still be at its best when it remembers what it is. Boxing is a working man’s sport and the crowd was full of the sort of blue-collar bloodlust only a night at the fights can provide. These were real boxing fans (even CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who can often be found in DC at ringside) and if you’re reading this and haven’t been out to a local show in your area, get there. Every ticket sold is a consumer statement in a consumer society. 3,870 made a statement last Friday and there’s millions more where they came from.
Global Thoughts: Just a few thoughts on the boxing world beyond the U.S. borders…
Ring Magazine’s #2 rated middleweight Arthur Abraham (23-0, 18 KO) returned from a long injury layoff and looked every bit the threat to Jermain Taylor that he’s been all along. Kelly Pavlik may be the buzz word, but when the smoke clears, Abraham may be the man left standing. The German-based Armenian can flat out fight…
There will be another great heavyweight and, from the look of things, he’ll come from the Eastern bloc. I think we might even know who he is. Alexander Povetkin, the 2004 Gold Medalist at Super Heavyweight, is already the pride of Russia. He soon may be the pride of all the boxing world. 12-0 with 9 stops, Povetkin will be making a huge step up in his next bout, facing veteran Monte Barrett (31-5, 17 KO) of New York. With fast hands, power, a solid jab and rippling body shots, a win over Barrett sets him up as the number one prospect in the entire sport…
Lineal World flyweight king Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (65-2, 34 KO) says he wants to extend his record breaking title reign with a win over number one contender and IBF titlist Vic Darchinyan (28-0, 22 KO). Trust me, this is a fight everyone should want to see and has fight of the decade written all over it. Pray for it.
Mail: My column last week, stating the case for why Cory Spinks as a wronged man in his decision loss to World middleweight champion Jermain Taylor, yielded an unprecedented amount of mail. Shockingly, almost all of it agreed with me. I thought I’d share some of the best reader contributions.
Mike Gelin wrote: I had Cory winning 117-111. If he lost then Mayweather lost to De La Hoya which I thought was a draw. Mayweather got credit for a lot of punches De la Hoya caught with his gloves. Cory did not run he simply outboxed Jermain and stood in front of him the whole fight. What a travesty? At least Pavlik ruined HBO's big plans for a showdown even though I think Miranda can beat Jermaine. Cory is a great boxer and caught Taylor plenty of times as he came in. Emmanuel Steward sure thought Talor was losing. I feel bad for Cory. As great as Mayweather claims to be he won't fight Cory. That would be a great boxing match.
Jacquie Richardson of the Retired Boxers Foundation wrote: Thank you for being the only writer I could find to speak up for Cory Spinks. I agree with you one hundred percent and I am very happy that our friends at Boxingscene.com--yourself included--had the courage to write the truth.
Tommy Hillborg of Sweden writes: I did like your story about Cory and Taylor. You are so right about the whole thing. I agree to 100%, my friend. You know boxing. Thanks again for the good work.
Ken Bang offers that: In a way, Spinks did the same thing to Taylor that Mayweather did to DLH a few weeks ago. If anything, Spinks was more dominant of Taylor than Mayweather was of De la Hoya. Ironically, Jim Lampley thought prime Floyd Mayweather put on a boxing clinic against the aging DLH, but a few weeks later Spinks does the same thing to a younger, bigger, stronger, harder punching, reigning middleweight champion in Taylor and Lampley overlooks this much bigger achievement. It's irritating to watch these flip flopping jack asses get paid to make such comments. Thank God Pavlik was able to take matters into his own hands on the undercard, because I can't stand decisions anymore.
SSG Nick Green, stationed in Kentucky, wrote: First of all let me say in all honesty that I think Spinks did win the fight easily since Taylor just stood their all night. However I don't feel bad for him at all. He robbed Zab in their first fight imop and this was probably the worst fight I have ever seen and I am a HUGE boxing fan who has seen a lot of fights.
Finally, Robert Jackson wrote: Hey man, I loved your article until you got to the point where you analyzed Taylor’s (recent) lack of ability! Can I interject? Inactivity YES, but training with the experienced HOF trainer Emanuel Steward should offset that. Steward’s lack of professionalism Saturday night was inexcusable in spite of his frustration which was excusable; he should’ve never said what he said regarding the choice of Spinks as an opponent over Miranda. I’m hoping that Jermain Taylor goes with Roach, Buddy McGirt, Roger Mayweather or better yet returns to Pat Burns!
It’s great to hear from all of the great readers out there.
As a last note this week, I end on a personal note.
Loss of a Fan: To little fanfare, a lifelong fight fan passed away Monday in Central California. Just shy of 100 years old, he lived through suffrage, a Great Depression, and two World Wars. He lived through the birth of radio, television and the internet. He outlived one of his five children, his beloved wife of almost seventy years, and two grandchildren.
Some of my fondest memories are of him as a fight fan and a former fighter. Everyone in his family can recite his tales of an era long since lost when he would don gloves and fight at the county fairgrounds of the 1920’s and 30’s, tough man contests that were all blood and guts. They were the type of fights that don’t go in any record books, recorded instead years later at supper.
He never thought much of the fighters of today, or at least he said so. Men like Sugar Ray Leonard and Mike Tyson “couldn’t fight their way out of a paper sack” he’d say to anyone his junior. He was a Dempsey man and an advocate of the Fitzsimmons solar plexus punch. More than twice, he balled up his left fist, two fingers lost years earlier to a grain mill and the others calloused from a life of other rugged labors, and showed me right where such a punch would land. I got a kick out of it every time.
I’ll turn thirty later this year and I know how fortunate I was to know him as long as I did. My great-grandfather, Clifford Samuel Rold, was 97 years old.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com