Controversial former heavyweight champions Shannon Briggs and Tyson Fury came face to face in Manchester.
Both fighters are in town to sit ringside, to watch Anthony Joshua defend his IBF heavyweight title against Eric Molina.
Briggs traveled over from the United States and he's been crashing media events all week - while Fury, who's been out of the ring since his November 2015 victory over Wladimir Klitschko - vacated the WBO, IBO, WBA world titles last month to deal with his mental health issues.
Briggs been set to fight Australian Lucas Browne for the vacant WBA heavyweight strap, before Browne failed a drug test earlier this month throwing Briggs’ future in doubt.
But even without an opponent, the 45-year-old has managed to make sure he remains the talk of the town, making a very vocal appearance at Anthony Joshua’s weigh-in earlier today.
“Don’t do it champ!” he screamed from the back of the hall, forcing a smile from the British heavyweight king. He was given a warm welcome by 17-0 Joshua, who proclaimed the Brooklyn-born fighter as a “legend” and praised the veteran’s work ethic.
Joshua is a heavy favourite in his fight with Molina. And the 27-year-old already has his sights set on bigger things.
“It is big time now, man. It is big time boxing. I need to move on to that level,” he said. “It is a shame Tyson Fury is not around too because that was one that everyone was talking about. There are other big fights out there. I’m looking forward to it.”
