Paul Briggs' 29-second fiasco fixed?

Briggs' 29-second fiasco has bookies fearing a fix JAMIE PANDARAM July 22, 2010 BETTING agencies will today demand that the International Boxing Organisation launch an investigation into the farcical result of Danny Green's title defence in Perth last night against Paul Briggs, fearing a fix. Green's angry reaction to Briggs's capitulation within 30 seconds rivalled that of the stunned audience's. Briggs went down to a glancing jab that appeared to hit his glove, not his head, and he stayed down for the full count. The fight was over in 29 seconds. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were lodged with bookmakers yesterday on the result being a first-round knockout, and it's likely they will withhold payment until an investigation is concluded. Too many people knew about Briggs's problems for this fight to have been staged. It was an utter embarrassment. Briggs was ushered out of the arena, sheltered from flying bottles, and bookmakers were quickly scrambling. Green screamed at Briggs: ''You f---ing dog'' as the referee waved off the contest. He added soon after: ''Paul Briggs is not getting paid a cent. That is criminal, what he did. I will rise above that canine and apologise. ''I am feeling very, very angry.'' Betezy, whose affiliated Fightbet offshoot sponsored the fight, is not paying on the first-round knockout until it gets an official response from investigators. ''It looks very suspect,'' said Betezy general manager Ryan Kay. ''He didn't hit him, he has touched him and he has just taken a fall. ''We will be taking this to higher levels with the IBO.'' The heavy betting prompted Kay to call the Green camp earlier in the day, asking if the fight was legit. Green's rival, Nader Hamdan, was quick to castigate the champion, who retained his IBO cruiserweight title. ''What does he expect from someone that has been retired nearly four years, calling him all those names,'' Hamdan said. ''Everyone knew that Paul had some issues. All the boxing people knew, Paul wasn't what he was years ago. I don't know why he's blowing up. I will step up and fight him any day, there's Dominic Vea, there's plenty of good cruiserweights around for him to choose.'' Before the main event started, Briggs's trainer, Billy Hussein, expressed disappointment at the amount of time given his fighter to prepare for the contest. Briggs, who weighed in 3.2 kilograms over the agreed limit of 84kg requested by Green (the cruiserweight limit is 90.7kg), looked sluggish from the outset. Green jabbed him once to the body, then threw the contentious punch that put Briggs down on his haunches, unable to rise by the count of 10. ''I want to go into the changeroom now and give him a fight,'' Green fumed. ''That was a black eye for boxing.'' Green's next possible opponent, Shane Cameron, likewise hardly showed the explosive form that will have boxing fans salivating at the prospect of the pair meeting later this year. Cameron easily won his 10-round heavyweight bout against Daniel Ammann via unanimous decision, but his performance was more workmanlike than thunderous, and the power that allowed him to stop 20 of his previous 26 opponents was clearly lacking. Cameron had lost 13kg in a bid to move towards cruiserweight in a bid to challenge Green, but strength was also left behind. ''I didn't have the spark tonight but that is just the body getting used to it,'' Cameron said. ''I am looking for a fight with Danny Green, that is what we want, this is a step closer to it.'' http://www.smh.com.au/sport/boxing/briggs-29second-fiasco-has-bookies-fearing-a-fix-20100722-10ley.html?*********=1