By Edward Chaykovsky
According to Dean Lonergan, promoter for undefeated heavyweight contender Joseph Parker, he made a lucrative offer to former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs - who rejected the terms without a counter-offer.
Briggs arrived in the UK a few days ago and he's been traveling, city to city, hunting for former two-division world champion David Haye.
Haye is not his only target, Briggs also wants a crack at undefeated Olympian Anthony Joshua and IBO/WBA/WBO champion Tyson Fury.
Briggs has been claiming that nobody out there will fight him.
Lonergan claims that he's been chasing Briggs to fight Parker for well over a year. Next up for Parker is an IBF final eliminator against dangerous contender Carlos Takam. The winner will be the mandatory challenger to next month's fight between Joshua and IBF champion Charles Martin.
After Takam, Lonergan hopes Briggs will come to the table. He predicts Parker will win by knockout inside of five rounds.
"Shannon Briggs has been running from Joseph Parker for the last year-and-a-half," Lonergan told Sky Sports. "I've been trying to track Shannon down and he just will not talk to me, because he knows that Joseph Parker would knock him out inside five rounds. He will just not talk, because he doesn't want to take the fight.
"Tell Shannon Briggs that once we finish up with Carlos Takam, we might give him a crack at Joseph, but I think he will run a millions miles, because he knows Joseph can really fight. Instead of let's go champ, it was no go champ!
"When Joseph was sparring with Wladimir Klitschko, Shannon Briggs was in the same gym and he was talking to (Parker's trainer) Kevin Barry, 'I've been getting your promoter's texts, but I ain't fighting Joe!'"
