Comments Thread For: Klitschko Broke Briggs' Face, Shannon in The Hospital

[Dave Rado]

Is it me or is Vitaly more sadistic than his younger brother. I think Vitlay doesn't have an ounce of sympathy for his opponents (which is the way it should be in a brutal sport like boxing) while Wlad geniunly feels sorry for his opponents if he gives them a hard beating. He came up to Byrd's family after Byrd II and apologized to them, Vitaly would never think of doing that. Vitaly was kind of mad at himself for not knocking Briggs out.

I think that's what makes Vitaly the better of the two, even now, even though Wlad is yonger and much less shop-worn. Vitaly is just meaner.

Lots of great fighters have had compassion for their opponents. Even Tyson used to help his opponents up after he'd knocked them out, and ask them if they were okay, in a way that clearly showed genuine concern for their welfare.

I don't think that says anything one way or the other about their ability to win fights.

And I doubt Vitali would beat Wlad, although it would be a pick 'em fight. Vitali is the better fighter, Wlad is the better boxer. It would be an interesting clash of styles if they weren't brothers.

[Dave Rado]

Dan Rafael has a further update on Briggs: I thought Vitali broke his nose in the late rounds and it turns out he did:

Briggs "is in Hamburg's Eppendorf University Hospital with a broken left orbital bone in his face, a broken nose and a torn left biceps, Empire Sports and Entertainment promoter Greg Cohen told ESPN.com."

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/box...ory?id=5696131

According to that Dan Rafael article it's not nearly as serious as it seemed from the boxingscene article and some of the posts.

Now, he is in Hamburg's Eppendorf University Hospital with a broken left orbital bone in his face, a broken nose and a torn left biceps, Empire Sports and Entertainment promoter Greg Cohen told ESPN.com.

"He was ****** up pretty bad," Cohen said, shortly after arriving back in New York on Sunday. "The CT scan came back normal, thank God. Shannon wants to get out of there as soon as possible, but he'll be there for a little bit longer. He's devastated. He really thought he was going to win."

Cohen said the biceps injury was the most severe.

"His biceps is a very serious injury and they have to do surgery, and he'll probably be there for a week," Cohen said. "It might require more than one surgery."

Cohen said rumors that Briggs, 38, had suffered a brain hemorrhage were not true and that he was resting at the hospital and had even joked around with him before he left Germany.

"I wouldn't be here [in New York] if he wasn't OK," Cohen said. "He was in intensive care after the fight for precautionary reasons. The injuries are not life-threatening. He's just ****** up, but it's not life-threatening or very serious. Other than the injuries I described, everything else is OK.

"He walked out of the arena on his own. They wanted to put him on as stretcher, but he wouldn't let them. He's going to be fine."

So no permanent injury and certainly no brain damage.



Cohen also sticks up for the corner and the referee:

"He trained for this. He was 100 percent ready mentally and physically, but I wish they would have stopped it around the eighth round," Cohen said. "I love Shannon. He's like family to me. As a human being, he is much more important to me than as an athlete. So it was tough to watch. But Shannon did not want them stopping this fight. I wish they didn't listen to him, but I understand. I spoke to his corner after one of the rounds and Shannon was telling him, 'I'm OK, I'm going to get him.' Even after the 11th round, he thought he was still going to do it. His will was never broken. If I was in the corner, I would have stopped it. But I'm the promoter, not the cornerman.

"I don't blame the referee at all. The referee did a good job. And I don't blame the corner. I understand, but my preference would have been for it to be stopped."

So while wishing it had been stopped earlier he doesn't blame the corner or the ref.

[xAUGUSTUSx]

the thing is though Briggs is 38 his defense has never been his strong point and he was 260 lbs when you way that much you can't be mobile at all and if you don't have any upper body movement you are going to get tagged repeatly

remember what Vitali did to Kevin Johnson years ago when he came in too heavy

at least Haye has the speed and movement to at least not get hit with everything Vitali throws

Haye could'nt take half those punches.

[MACAQUEINBLACK]

They couldn't call the tag line something else. The title makes it seem like this is a joke.

I know, man. "Broke Briggs' Face" makes this site sound like a boxing tabloid.



Oh, wait...

[starkiller]

Mistake, wasn't worth getting beat to a pulp to go the distance with Vitali. Hope he gets better, his team should have stopped the fight sooner what a disgrace to boxing. I knew something was wrong with Briggs after fight, you can't take shots that devastating without it having physical affects after the fight...

[Dave Rado]

yeah true but i see him fighting more like he did against valuev he only really got tagged by ruiz and barrett because he was trading shots and not showing them much respect

and he is usually going for the knockout so he is naturally going to get hit more often

if he fights one of the klits he is going to be running like calderon and i don't blame him lol

If he fights the way he did against Valuev he will be decimated. Valuev is extremely slow and yet Haye only sc****d a majority decision against him in a very close fight. Both Klitschkos are leagues faster than Valuev, both in terms of hand and foot-speed; are far more skilled, throw far more punches, are far more accurate, and have far better jabs. And if they don't have to worry about what's coming back (which they wouldn't if Haye was fighting that way), either of them would give him an almighty beating.

Haye's only possible chance is to use a Tyson-Dempsey style of game plan, ducking low, loads of head movement, working the body. I doubt he can do it, but it's his only chance. But that game plan depends on being good at slipping and countering the jab, and after seeing how susceptible he was to Ruiz's jab, I don't think he has a hope in hell of slipping and countering either of the Klitschkos' jabs effectively.

[hugh grant]

Why wasnt briggs this durable against Lennox lewis? LL didnt fracture his face though.

[starkiller]

Why wasnt briggs this durable against Lennox lewis? LL didnt fracture his face though.

I think Briggs said that he trained harder for this fight and was in the best condition he has ever been in but I could be wrong, so don't quote me on it but I believe he said that.

[Dave Rado]

Why wasnt briggs this durable against Lennox lewis? LL didnt fracture his face though.

That was a TKO, not a KO. This fight should also have been a TKO. Plus Vitali has never had one-punch power, he's always worn his opponents down with a large number of clubbing, hurtful, but not one-punch-knock-out blows. Lewis - like Wlad - had much more one punch power than Vitali, but Vitali's punches are much more hurtful, accumulatively.

[New England]

That was a TKO, not a KO. This fight should also have been a TKO. Plus Vitali has never had one-punch power, he's always worn his opponents down with a large number of clubbing, hurtful, but not one-punch-knock-out blows. Lewis - like Wlad - had much more one punch power than Vitali, but Vitali's punches are much more hurtful, accumulatively.

Tell that to kirk johnson, corrie sanders, anybody else that got hit with vitali's right hand in his prime. he was a devastating puncher. he's always fought economically but he hasnt always been as light a hitter as you might be used to seeing him


vitali used to punch much harder. much much harder.
he's got brittle hands and shoulders
and he doesnt sit on his punches like he used to

he used to wear reyes gloves and hammer the right hand down the center as good as anybody in the division save perhaps lewis

now he places the right hand and usually doesnt even aim for the chin, so he can hit high on the face and stay tall