By Bill Calogero
I for one have questioned the talent of WBO Heavyweight Champion, Shannon Briggs for years. I have to admit, when he first burst onto the scene in the early 1990’s, I was a big fan. I honestly thought he was going to be a World Champion.
After knocking out his first eight opponents, seven in the first round, he was matched with Kenneth Bentley for a four-round fight. Bentley had an 8-44 (0 KOs) record. His experience pushed Briggs to his first win by decision. He continued his winning ways until he met Darroll Wilson on March 15, 1996, who stopped Briggs in the third round. This fight showed me that Shannon Briggs was not what I thought he was.
A year later, he fought George Foreman in Atlantic City and won a VERY controversial decision. I watched the fight live. Big George wuz robbed! Right then and there, I thought Shannon Briggs was a pretender and certainly wasn’t a legitimate contender for the World Heavyweight Title. A few months later, Lennox Lewis stopped him in the 5th round to retain his WBC Heavyweight Title. Once again, Briggs fell short.
For the next seven years, Briggs fought to a draw, lost twice and had fourteen wins, all of which were against journeyman fighters. His two loses were at the hands of Sedreck Fields, who at the time was 9-9, in April of 2000 and to Jameel McCline in April 2002. As far as I was concerned, Shannon Briggs was done.
But no wait there’s more: On August 26, 2005, Briggs was matched with Ray Mercer. He stopped Mercer in the 7th round. Once again, everyone (but me) began talking about Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs. Later that year, Briggs beat Luciano Zolyone for the vacant FECARBOX Heavyweight Title in Puerto Rico.
When he was matched with Dicky Ryan on March 18, 2006 for the vacant NABA & WBO NABO Heavyweight Titles, once again he walked away with an easy win. Before I knew it, he was fighting Serguei Lyakhovich in November of 2006 for Lyakhovich’s WBO Heavyweight Title. To be honest, I bet on Serguei. To me, it was a no-brainer. Briggs had proved NOTHING to me throughout his career, and he certainly had showed nothing in wins over the likes of Zolyone, Ryan and Chris Koval.
In one of the most boring Championship fights I have ever seen, Shannon Briggs somehow mustered up enough energy to stop Lyakhovich in the 12th round. (Please note: for some reason, Lyakhovich’s corner kept telling him to stay away from Briggs, to avoid his power. The problem was, Briggs was so tired, he was there for the taking. Lyakhovich’s corner lost the fight by giving very bad advice.)
After such a dramatic win, one would think that jumping for joy, or pumping a fist in the air would be something the winner would do, at least. I mean come on, the man just won the World Heavyweight Title, which is one of the most recognized championship titles in the world. Not Shannon Briggs. He was sitting on his stool getting oxygen. After the fight, he complained that he suffers from asthma. I have never heard of a professional boxer with asthma.
The bottom line to me is this: All this fight proved was how awful Briggs is. He showed me nothing on offense or defense. The only thing Briggs has is power. I can’t deny him of that. In addition, he is one of the best “boxer-looking” fighters I have seen since Ron Lyle. Shannon Briggs is always in great shape, or at least he looks like he is. Too bad looking in great shape can’t beat quality fighters.
Tonight, Briggs makes his first title defense against Sultan Ibragimov. Make no mistake Ibragimov is a legitimate title challenger. He’s currently the WBO’s number one ranked Heavyweight. He’s 20-0-1 (17 KOs) and is a “come at you” fighter. He can fight and wants to brawl. One major problem for Ibragimov is that’s exactly what Briggs needs from an opponent to make him look good.
It’s time for Shannon Briggs to prove that he’s a legitimate Champion. Its time for him to prove to people, like me, who think he’s finished, has been hand-fed opponents, has little skill and is just taking advantage of boxing and it’s fans. This is Shannon’s chance to set the record straight and make a serious statement that he can be part of unifying the Title. Its time for Shannon Briggs to prove he deserves to be considered one of the best.
This is a great opportunity for Shannon and he needs to take advantage of it. Sultan Ibragimov will come right at Shannon “The Cannon”. Briggs will and should go toe to toe with Ibragimov. It will accomplish a couple of things.
First, it will play into Briggs’ favor in terms of stamina. The longer the fight goes Ibragimov’s chances get better. Briggs can fight an inside war, which will make him look good by showcasing his power. He can throw short powerful punches in bunches in close. He will need to keep this fight under six rounds. In every fight I can remember Shannon being in, he clearly runs out of gas and is a different fighter from the 6th round on.
The second is that although Sultan has 17 KOs, most came against very weak opposition. His toughest opponent was Ray Austin, who he fought to a draw. He did stop Lance Whitaker in the 7th round of their bout in 2005, but aside from him, no one jumps out at you. He may not be as powerful as his record indicates. Briggs will be the bigger man and should be able to out-brawl Ibragimov. He will definitely be stronger.
Briggs is “supposed” to beat Ibragimov. These are the fights the good ones take advantage of and put on a memorable performance. They look good fighting opponents custom made to order, as I believe Ibragimov is for Briggs. These are the fights that make champions legit. The ones you should win and do, convincingly. That shows that you deserve the title. After all, Champions are the best out there, right?
Briggs needs to win big. He needs a KO. Ibragimov may be the perfect candidate. There is only one problem for Briggs. That’s his chin. Every Heavyweight has the power to end a fight with one punch. If Briggs runs out of gas, like he usually does, Ibragimov will have a great opportunity of stopping him. Briggs can’t let this happen if he plans on defending his title after tonight’s bout.
With what I have seen over Shannon’s career, I am expecting him to blow this opportunity. I can’t help but think that history will repeat itself tonight in Atlantic City. I am predicting an upset win for Sultan Ibragimov. I think Shannon will be Shannon and come up short resulting in yet another title changing hands, further making the Heavyweight division a mess a little longer.
But then again, Briggs MUST know this is his last chance. Maybe, just maybe he can prove himself worthy of a World title. I am taking the odds and putting a dime on Sultan Ibragimov.