Briggs now facing Lyakovich

A source close to the situation says that heavyweight contender Shannon Briggs and his representatives grew tired of waiting for IBF Champion Wladimir Klitschko and his manager, Shelly Finkel, to finalize arrangements for a fight on November 11 and have decided to instead sign to face WBO Heavyweight Champion Sergei "The White Wolf" Liakhovich (23-1, 14 KOs), possibly in early November in New York. Briggs (47-4-1, 41 KOs) has also signed a promotional deal with Liakhovich’s promoter, Don King, contingent on the Liakhovich fight taking place. The source says Team Briggs decided to look elsewhere when Finkel, who they say promised them “1000%,” they had the fight, began negotiating publicly with new WBC Champion Oleg Maskaev and reportedly made overtures to Liakhovich, top-rated contender Calvin Brock and others. “Mr. Finkel is retuning from a relaxing cruise today to find that the Shannon Briggs ship has already sailed,” said the source. Briggs is currently rated #3 by the WBO.

Comments (19)

neils7147933

anyone with credibility better stay away from valuev. if you dont knock him out you lose. bad odds IMO Not now that he's fighting in the US... Valuev would have been penalized/DQ'd against Etienne and probably would have lost decisions to Donald and Ruiz had he not had some hometown help...

19y ago

neils7147933

Briggs chickened out ! :D Briggs just got Sergei before Wlad did...

19y ago

jedihillis

I think Sergi will cream this guy. This would be a great setup for Wlad/Lykovich if Sergi can do what he needs to win the fight. (basically survive the first 5 rounds)

19y ago

beez721

I'd give Briggs the possibility of winning a decision over Sergei...if he had outpointed a single decent opponent since George Foreman almost a decade ago! A ten round draw with fringe contender Botha. That's probably his last "impressive" result in a fight that went the distance. The guy has no stamina, isn't a very skilled or intelligent boxer, and his chin is suspect. He can hit, he's got heart, and he has a chiseled physique and somewhat marketable name. The rest is hype. Really, he should stick to acting and beating up on journeyman and not risk his health against a world class guy like Lyakovich. He will get punished if he really fights a strong and hungry title holder like Sergei. that is true. his power and skills never look half as good when he faces a quality opponent which is one reason he would have had only a very slim chance against wlad. but I increase the chance a little more with serg becuase he'll be easier to hit

19y ago

beez721

This is a more difficult fight for Briggs than was Wladimir. The reason I knew Briggs was gonna beat Wladimir is the fact that Wladimir cannot take a punch. Not only that, he was afraid to get hit. With Briggs' handspeed and punching power, it would've been a nightmare for Klitschko. Lyakhovich is a completely different kind of fighter. Lyakhovich is shorter, has more stamina, and a better chin. Still, Briggs is a big guy with a big punch, and as long as his retina remains in place, he'll be dangerous. This fight is a toss up, but Lyakhovich is gonna be the favorite on paper. Im still puzzled as to your sudden change of heart with shannon briggs. a couple of months ago you compared briggs vs wlad to the derrick jefferson vs wlad fight saying briggs had no chance. what made you change your mind?

19y ago

Dirt_E_Gomez

I hope you didn't score the Foreman fight for Briggs, heh. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is a good fight for Briggs, but neither of these 2 title holders are great fights for him. Brewster did knock down Lyakhovich and Briggs fights an extremely briusk pace in the early rounds before he gets gassed out. It's hardly crazy to suggest Briggs will KO em'.

19y ago

Kid_Achilles

19y ago

La_Vibora

Actually this is a worse fight for Briggs as he has less of a chance of hurting Lyakovich than he does Wladimir. Briggs was only a threat because of his big punch but Lyakovich took everything Lamon Brewster threw at him and I don't think Briggs could do worse. In fact, I am certain he would tire quicker. So Briggs either fights an active fight , shoots his load early on the durable Lyakovich, and gets knocked out, or he tries to box and gets schooled by the quicker and more skilled "White Wolf". Either way, Briggs doesn't even have too much of a puncher's chance here. I expect to see him disposed of quite easily and then we can finally stop hearing about Briggs as a top ten contender. Thats exactly what I was thinking when I first heard of this. If I had to guess, I would say that this info is coming from Briggs' team, and they are trying to get Wlad's team to hurry up to make a decision on their bout. Atleast that is what I will believe until this fight is official.

19y ago

Dirt_E_Gomez

I think people are confusing Much Tougher to Win with Much Tougher to Knockout. It's not inconceivable to believe that Briggs will win a UD... we just expect him to knock people out. Assuming he comes in in shape I'd favor Briggs. He'll win rounds by landing those big bombs and hurtying Lyakovich.... even if he's not knocking them out.

19y ago

Mr_Ryan

19y ago

Revere

Kids post is right on. Still, I dont see how he gets a title fight :confused:

19y ago

FibreOptic

Yo, what's uo Nautilis? I say Briggs should fight Valuev (I know he is fighting Barret soon). An unworthy challenger vs an unworthy champion.

19y ago

beez721

Actually this is a worse fight for Briggs as he has less of a chance of hurting Lyakovich than he does Wladimir. Briggs was only a threat because of his big punch but Lyakovich took everything Lamon Brewster threw at him and I don't think Briggs could do worse. In fact, I am certain he would tire quicker. So Briggs either fights an active fight , shoots his load early on the durable Lyakovich, and gets knocked out, or he tries to box and gets schooled by the quicker and more skilled "White Wolf". Either way, Briggs doesn't even have too much of a puncher's chance here. I expect to see him disposed of quite easily and then we can finally stop hearing about Briggs as a top ten contender. I disagree. brewster was very close to having serg out and he wasnt in great shape for that fight. briggs has a better chance against serg than with wlad. he'll have an easier time finding him. I give briggs a 1 in 3 chance of starching serg in this fight

19y ago

Kid_Achilles

Jack Dempsey, one of my all time favorite heavyweights.

19y ago

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19y ago

Briggs chickened out ! :D

19y ago

Southpaw16

translation: Briggs was planning to fight Wladimir Klitshko until an offer was made to fight another beltholder, but this one being a much more winnable fight, so Briggs took it. Don't blame him, if he can win the WBO belt then he could go back to negotiations with Klitshko except this time it would be a much better money fight for him.

19y ago