Shannon Briggs, who hasn't fought in 9 months since his loss to Sultan Ibragimov, is now calling out the heavyweight division. He's interested in fights with Wladimir Klitschko, Chagaev (he called him 'the guy who beat Valuev', Valuev, and even Sam Peter. BoxingScene's website had an interview with him recently:
BoxingScene.com: What have you been up to since your last fight?
Shannon Briggs: "I've just been working, I own a few businesses. I've just been sitting back watching a lot of boxing and watching the heavyweight picture unfold into what it is. I feel quite disrespected watching Klitschko fight Ibragimov and Peter versus Maskaev."
Feels Disrespected after watching Klitschko/Ibragimov and Peter/Maskaev?
Ok, That might have not been Wlad's best fight, but it was still a lot more exciting that Shannon's attempt against Sultan 9 months prior. What could be disrespecting to him about Sam Peter winning the WBC title? Maybe he felt that it was a fight he could have won too, and he was mad Sam Peter got a shot and not him. After all, losing a title fight and fighting nobody since should entitle you to another title fight.
BoxingScene: The last I'd heard of you was that you were interested in fighting Wladimir Klitschko. Why hasn't that fight materialized?
Briggs: "I had the title and went to the Klitschko-Brock fight and he didn't want to fight me. I was supposed to be in the Brock fight. Shelly Finkel wound up getting sued by Cedric Kushner because that fight didn't materialize. Meanwhile, Finkel was telling everybody that he had us signed to fight Klitschko. Kushner wound up winning the lawsuit for that. I went and challenged him, he didn't want to fight me.
"They keep him away from punchers. Ray Austin? C'mon, he was my sparring partner. Aside from Chris Byrd, who was past his prime and fought him in Germany, where a lot of shady sh*t goes down, who has he fought? Lamon Brewster, who hadn't fought in two years. The last fight he was in he got the breaks beat off him by Sergei Lyakhovich. In his last fight he looked like a little girl slapping at Sultan. In the fight I heard Max Kellerman say he has a great jab like Lennox Lewis. What great jab, you mean jab and pull back because you're scared? How about when he was flopping on the floor against Sam Peter? I'm just stating the facts."
Chris Byrd was past his prime and fought him in Germany
Geez, does this guy watch boxing at all. He fought Byrd TWICE. The second time might be questionable whether he was past his prime or not, but he still was champion and defeated top rated fighters in the division. But, the 1st time they fought was in 2000. Byrd was champion and 30 years of age. Thats what most people would agree would be a athletes prime not past his prime! What a manipulation of facts.Ya, it was really shady how Klitschko won the fight in Germany with Byrd. He won by TKO! No judges were involved with that fight whatsoever. Does he realize that Sultan made him look silly when they fought, and the 'scared' Wladimir beat the guy who beat him?
BoxingScene: You've claimed that you weren't 100% when you fought Sultan Ibragimov. What was wrong and why did you compete in a compromised state?
Briggs: "I fought Ibragimov with pneumonia. They threatened to sue me if they didn't get their fight. Their doctors said I had pneumonia and there was no way I could fight. I got the medical records to prove it. The WBO was talking about stripping me. They wanted to strip me, sue me. I didn't have any support. Nobody said they'd give me, what the hell did they give Vitali 'Quitschko', The Super Venus champion or some sh*t, some sh*t I never heard of. They made up a new name for him to come back to fight for the title after pulling out of 4-5 different fights. I can't even say the sh*t. It's some Greek sh*t. There's a lot of bullsh*t and 'poli-tricks.' All I'm saying is give me a fair shake. It's like how George Bush did with the election a few years ago, rigging the votes.
"They knew I wasn't training. They were training with Jeff Mayweather, who was training me the fight before. He jumped ship, he's a traitor. I went to their doctors because they thought I was faking the illness. My doctor said it would 2-4 months before I could start training. Their doctor said it could be anywhere from 6 months to a year before I start training again. They come back 20 days later and said if I didn't fight I would be stripped, sued, and maybe banned from boxing for pulling out. It was either fight or feed my family. If I didn't fight the guy, I would've been stripped and not make a buck. How am I going to feed my two kids? I cracked his ass in the first round and he ran for the next 12 rounds. I wasn't in the shape to chase him."
More like he strategically made you look really bad for 12 rounds. I wonder if pneumonia caused him to come in as a out of season bodybuilder for the fight as well? Vitali 'Quitschko'? Any doubts after he had to pull out with a injury in the Byrd fight were erased after he fought Lennox Lewis to the point where you could see one of the worst cuts in a title match on Vitali Klitschko's face.
BoxingScene: Have you been at least staying in the gym and training while waiting for a fight?
Briggs: "Yes, but you know it doesn't matter because I can't get a fight. John Ruiz has won and lost the title for years. He just fought a fight against McCline, which will get him a title shot for sure. Andrew Golata just fought Mike Mollo and there's talks of him getting another title shot. I lost to Ibragimov in a 12 round decision and I can't get a title shot. It's politics. I want to fight Sam Peter, or Sam Cheater. These guys don't want to fight Shannon Briggs."
Excuse me, did he just say he thinks he should be more entitled to a title shot that someone who's at least won a fight in the last year? Give me a break.
BoxingScene: In your words, why would the fans be interested in seeing you in another big fight?
Briggs: "Because if it's about the fans, I'm exciting. I'm the last American Heavyweight champion. I'm the only guy who can get the job done right now. Can John Ruiz beat Klitschko? No, because he's too small and doesn't hit hard enough. We had Chambers go up against Povetkin, we saw how that went down. I won 13 in a row before my loss, that doesn't entitle me to a title shot?"
Briggs: "Because if it's about the fans, I'm exciting.
Based off his last fight. John Ruiz would seem more exciting. Can John Ruiz beat Klitschko? No. Can Shannon Briggs beat Klitschko? Even bigger NO.
BoxingScene: Aside from the fighters you've already mentioned, who else are you interested in fighting?
Briggs: "The guy who beat Valuev, what's his name? I'm willing to fight Valuev! I'm willing to fight anybody. I've been in this game since 1992. All of the guys I was in the game with, Jeremy Williams, David Tua, they came and went. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I'm not crying, I'm not bitching. I make a great living doing what I'm doing. I have a beautiful family, a beautiful home. All I'm saying is that when I look at Sam Peter-Maskaev fight, it looked like a 55 year old and a 60 year old fighting, it makes me disgusted. I know I can beat both of these guys at the same time and they're still making money. How is it that Maskaev won a title, he fought one bum, then fought 15 months later. They never stripped him, they gave Peter another belt. This sh*t is like a f**king jigsaw puzzle. The American public is sitting back and letting that sh*t happen."
Briggs: "The guy who beat Valuev, what's his name?
He's been sitting back and watching boxing for the last few months but doesn't know the name of a title holder? Ya, it sounds like he's been watching really closely.
BoxingScene: Why have you not been active since the Ibragimov fight?
Briggs: "I've been inactive because the fights aren't there, really. I'm willing to go to Germany to fight any of these guys. I want to go to Nigeria to fight Sam Pedialite. The fights haven't been offered because they don't want to fight me."
In my opinion, Shannon should work to get back in the mix. He can't just lose a title match and expect another belt holder to fight him willingly. Why would they? He's not ranked, so it wouldn't fill their mandatory fights with their sanctioning bodies, and he's no longer a champion. Plus it's been 9 months since he fought and lost his title to Sultan Ibragimov who in turn lost his title to Wladimir Klitschko. How much marketablity does he think he has? Did he watch his last fight? How many people does he think would want to watch that again? If Sam Peter and Maskaev seemed like 50 year olds fighting then Shannon looked like he was 80 when he fought Sultan 9 months ago.
I don't believe the pneumonia excuse. He said he was 100% healthy at the time, so I guess he's good at lying. He also looked extremely muscled up, like a bodybuilding and not a boxer. Pneumonia doesn't cause that or you'd see a lot of professional bodybuilders coughing.
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