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Good to hear the hurricane is back. A highly entertaining fighter.
PAUL Briggs' thoughts of exiting the boxing ring have been KO'd by a possible shot at Anthony 'The Man' Mundine's world title.
Briggs, 32, has been considering retirement in recent months after returning to the Gold Coast suffering from a debilitating ailment that has affected his nervous system.
But a change of trainer, a drop in weight division and a call from the Mundine camp have again fired 'The Hurricane' into fight mode.
"Everything is falling into place almost too easily," he said. "I am almost waiting for something to go wrong. Most importantly my health continues to improve. I am at about 80 per cent and feeling good."
The first piece of the comeback puzzle fell into place when Briggs decided to split with top trainer Johnny Lewis, the man who took him to the second of his two unsuccessful world title fight wars against Polish champion Tomasz Adamek.
Briggs has now linked with Brisbane trainer Justin Footit.
"Johnny knows Justin and I left with Johnny's blessing," said Briggs.
"Justin comes very highly recommended, and every time I train with him he impresses me more and gives me a new lease on things."
With a trainer locked in, Briggs decided to come down from the light heavyweight division (79.4kg) to super middleweight (76.2kg).
No sooner had that happened then world WBA super middleweight champion Mundine came calling.
"I had a call this morning from the Mundine camp," said Briggs.
"They rang and threw some figures at me. They expressed interest in staging the fight in Brisbane or the Gold Coast, probably the Gold Coast. How great would that be. That has always been my dream, to win a world boxing title in front of my home crowd.
"We are looking at the fight being before the end of the year.
"Of course there are still a lot of things to fall into place. I have to get to 76kg and I have not been there for 10 years."
Briggs is aiming to begin his road back with a fight against an as-yet-unnamed Argentine in about three months. That fight will be at catchweight, between light heavyweight and super middleweight, in Brisbane and will be a key indicator of how Briggs has come back from illness and at a lighter weight.
However, the prospect of taking on Mundine has Briggs eager to make the transition.
Asked if he could beat Mundine, he replied simply: "Oh yeah," and then elaborated on the comparison between him and The Man:
"If you have a look at those two fights (the two 12-round classics against Adamek), you see the real character of a man when he is in a real war.
"Jumping around with a couple of Argentinians who should not be fighting for a world title and going the distance with them is so far from a real war it is not funny.
"I am not taking anything away from him (Mundine). He is a world champion and I am not.
"But, put it this way, he has never fought a fighter like me."
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/...ast-sport.html
PAUL Briggs' thoughts of exiting the boxing ring have been KO'd by a possible shot at Anthony 'The Man' Mundine's world title.
Briggs, 32, has been considering retirement in recent months after returning to the Gold Coast suffering from a debilitating ailment that has affected his nervous system.
But a change of trainer, a drop in weight division and a call from the Mundine camp have again fired 'The Hurricane' into fight mode.
"Everything is falling into place almost too easily," he said. "I am almost waiting for something to go wrong. Most importantly my health continues to improve. I am at about 80 per cent and feeling good."
The first piece of the comeback puzzle fell into place when Briggs decided to split with top trainer Johnny Lewis, the man who took him to the second of his two unsuccessful world title fight wars against Polish champion Tomasz Adamek.
Briggs has now linked with Brisbane trainer Justin Footit.
"Johnny knows Justin and I left with Johnny's blessing," said Briggs.
"Justin comes very highly recommended, and every time I train with him he impresses me more and gives me a new lease on things."
With a trainer locked in, Briggs decided to come down from the light heavyweight division (79.4kg) to super middleweight (76.2kg).
No sooner had that happened then world WBA super middleweight champion Mundine came calling.
"I had a call this morning from the Mundine camp," said Briggs.
"They rang and threw some figures at me. They expressed interest in staging the fight in Brisbane or the Gold Coast, probably the Gold Coast. How great would that be. That has always been my dream, to win a world boxing title in front of my home crowd.
"We are looking at the fight being before the end of the year.
"Of course there are still a lot of things to fall into place. I have to get to 76kg and I have not been there for 10 years."
Briggs is aiming to begin his road back with a fight against an as-yet-unnamed Argentine in about three months. That fight will be at catchweight, between light heavyweight and super middleweight, in Brisbane and will be a key indicator of how Briggs has come back from illness and at a lighter weight.
However, the prospect of taking on Mundine has Briggs eager to make the transition.
Asked if he could beat Mundine, he replied simply: "Oh yeah," and then elaborated on the comparison between him and The Man:
"If you have a look at those two fights (the two 12-round classics against Adamek), you see the real character of a man when he is in a real war.
"Jumping around with a couple of Argentinians who should not be fighting for a world title and going the distance with them is so far from a real war it is not funny.
"I am not taking anything away from him (Mundine). He is a world champion and I am not.
"But, put it this way, he has never fought a fighter like me."
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/...ast-sport.html
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