Briggs vs Ibragimov - Official Poll

[Dorian]

Briggs will probably be down on the cards and he will ko Sultan
(round 5-7)

[Dorian]

I wonder how big Briggs will come

[beez721]

Briggs will probably be down on the cards and he will ko Sultan
(round 5-7)

he'll already be gasping for air by then. sultan will put more pressure on him then serge "mr choke" lykawich

[flem1]

Didn't Ibragimov choke against Austin?

[beez721]

Didn't Ibragimov choke against Austin?

no,,,he came in too heavy and it nearly cost him the fight

[EliteSoldier]

I wonder how big Briggs will come

Depends on his steroid usage

[King Koyle]

Briggs by mid round TKO....

[CletusVanDamme]

I got a 10K beat on Sultan if anyone wants it in the Betting lounge.

[Steelhammer86]

Ibragimov should win

Sultan Ibrigamov is not really even a top ten heavyweight, although he would probably be in the top 5 at cruiserweight (he's maybe a top 20 heavyweight). However I don't think Shannon Briggs is even a top 20 heavyweight! I'm not picking Sultan to win because I think he's a force to be reckoned with, I think he'll win because he's a decent fighter and Briggs isn't.

1) Briggs has fought mostly club fighters. He probably is used to fighting weaker opponents, and will be out of his element when he fights a tough boxer like Sultan.
2) Briggs has only two notable wins in his career, one of which was a close decision against a 48 year old man.
3) Briggs wilts under pressure from a good puncher - he loses his courage, like he did against Lewis, McCline, and Savon. Sultan doesn't have Klitschko-like power, but his punches are fairly hard.
4) Briggs lost to a club fighter, Sedrick Fields, who has over 30 losses.
5) Briggs relies too heavily on steroids, which he cannot have prior to the fight because of the tests.
6) Briggs is now 35, not a youthful fighter anymore.
7) Briggs has health problems which affect his performance.

On the positive side for Briggs, he does have fast hands, he hits fairly hard, and his opponent Ibrigamov is smaller. But I think Sultan is tough enough to defeat Briggs, although neither one of them are really good enough to hold a heavyweight title. Sultan has not proven himself worthy of a title shot by defeating contenders, but this is a golden opportunity for him and he'll be well prepared.

Wlad, Peter, Vitali and Brewster would easily defeat either one, and likely so would Chagaev, Valuev, Brock, Dimitrenko, Rahman, Maskaev and Povetkin.

[monkeyboy]

I'm picking Sultan for the same reasons as everyone else. If Briggs hasn't chinned him by round three then Sultan will pummel him for the rest of the fight.
I'll have a better feel when I see the weights though.
Best of luck to both. I kind of prefer Sultan though cause I think he'll keep the belt active in fights whereas Briggs will waste time, avoid fighting with illnesses or face C level (and maybe British ;-) fighters.