By Luis Sandoval
Some of the most interesting and talked about action in the Heavyweight division has come from outside the ring as Shannon Briggs has been pestering unified champion Wladimir Klitschko for several weeks, attempting to secure a title fight. From disrupting his training camp to recently going as far as eating Wladimir’s food while out dining, Briggs has definitely taking things to another level.
Heavyweight contender and knockout artist Deontay Wilder spoke to BoxingScene and was asked to comment on the current Briggs-Klitschko situation. Despite Briggs going to great lengths to try to secure a world title fight, Wilder feels Klitschko should not give him the opportunity.
“I don’t think he should give him a fight. All that foolish stuff – I call it foolish. It’s foolish to me but I feel that’s the only way he feels he can get a world title shot. He doesn’t want to fight the rankings and get up there. He’s even talking about he paid his dues; that was years ago. You barely got passed Liakhovich for the WBO years ago. Now it’s another era. Now you got to fight your way back to the top. You not even ranked nowhere man. Fight your way back to the top and get it the right way because going to his gym, it looks ignorant to me,” Wilder would tell BoxingScene.
Fighters trying to bait other champions into giving them a fight by confronting them has been done for years in the sport and usually gives good results. Erislandy Lara, though in a much more respectable manner, recently got a shot at Saul Alvarez when he approached him at his post fight press conference. But Wilder feels what Briggs is doing simply isn’t working and won’t give him the results he’s looking for.
“I understand that he wants to fight him bad and he feels like that’s the way but it’s not working. When something’s not working, you got to come up with a new game plan. Coming to eat a man’s food out his plate…it didn’t look good to me. You can tell it wasn’t good acting as well because if a guy pours water on your head, you fitting to go get him. You ain’t fitting to fall and act – if he wanted to get him he could’ve got him. I was like ‘man, you could’ve got him’. Then you’re going to try to go to the hospital with a glass in your foot!? Get on out of here with that man!,” said laughing Wilder.
Wilder is very charismatic and has the gift of gab but even he feels Briggs won’t get the fight at this rate. Klitschko has proven he’s difficult to rattle and proof is his encounter with Heavyweight fighter Derrick Chisora.
“I don’t think [Briggs] deserves a shot. I don’t think Klitshcko is going to give him a shot. Not with just the coming to the gym and showing up looking like a fool or coming to eat my food off my plate. If a man can take a spit in the face and that’s one of the most disrespectful things a human can do to another human, I feel if he can take that from Chisora, he can take that other stuff Briggs is doing. If Briggs really wants to fight with Kltchko, he’s going to have to up his game a little bit. He’s going to either have to hit him or get at his fiancée and talk about her or something like that. He’s going to have to come with it. Other than that, everything he’s doing is not bothering him. But good luck to him man. If he gets him to jump the line for a fight with him, good luck to him”.
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