Guess who's back?
It's former lineal heavyweight champion (and former beltholder) Shannon Briggs.
Briggs (48-5-1, 42 KOs) hasn't fought since losing an alphabet belt to Sultan Ibragimov in a dreadful fight in June 2007, but the 37-year-old wants to give it another go. His promotional contract with Don King has expired, and he's hooked up with manager Ivaylo Gotzev. Briggs' return is scheduled for Oct. 17 in Phoenix. His opponent is not set yet, but it could be 41-year-old journeyman Macellus Brown (26-17-1, 21 KOs) in the eight-rounder, Gotzev told me Thursday.
Briggs' fight is on a card that includes the previously announced return of former cruiserweight champ Vassiliy Jirov (37-3-1, 31 KOs) against Dominique Alexander (18-7-1, 9 KOs).
One of the interesting elements of the Briggs-Gotzev union is that they were on opposite sides in November 2006 when Briggs drilled Sergei Liakhovich, Gotzev's fighter, in the 12th round to win a title. Now, they're working together and hoping for an eventual shot at Vitali Klitschko.
"When I was sitting ringside watching the mostly boring Vitali Klitschko-Cris Arreola match [last week], I had a vision," Gotzev said. "I saw Shannon Briggs facing Vitali in a very exciting battle. And that's the goal we have in mind. We want to see how Vitali feels when he's looking at an opponent, eye to eye, who can punch harder and faster than he can."
Crazy as it sounds, that fight probably would sell well in Europe because Briggs still has a pretty big name compared to most of the other opponents Klitschko could fight.
Briggs has had so many disappointing performances in his career despite his talent and charisma. But in this horrid heavyweight era, his return might spice things up, at least a little bit.
"I'm the last American-born heavyweight champion and I'm going to be the next," Briggs said. "You have to be able to hurt these guys. I'm the only one big enough, strong enough and experienced enough. Emanuel Steward has said many times that I'd be a very dangerous opponent for [Vitali or Wladimir Klitschko]. Tell me who? Who is out there with the right stuff to take these guys down besides me? People are tired of watching the Klitschkos. They want to see faces busted open. That's what boxing needs to be a dominant sport again. That's what I do."
Gotzev, who also manages former titlist Samuel Peter, sounded awfully excited about hooking up with Briggs.
"I'm in the business of moving my guys and putting them back on top," he said. "I will hear from the haters and naysayers, but we are here to prove them wrong."
He said the expiration of Briggs' contract with King will allow them to make fights a lot easier than with him involved.
"Now we can make some fights happen," Gotzev said. "We want Vitali. We're gonna prove ourselves. He's going to be fighting on a regular basis to prove himself."
Briggs and Gotzev got together at the suggestion of a friend of Briggs'.
"A friend of mine suggested we hook up because he's a young go-getter and he hustles for his fighters. We hung out and I like his energy," Briggs said.
Briggs said his time off has helped him him recharge (although we'll believe that when we see it).
"When I lost the title in '07, I had walking pneumonia," Briggs said. "I wasn't prepared. It wasn't a smart move for me to defend the title in that condition. If you look at the heavyweight champions of the last few years, other champions have been allowed postponement after postponement. I was forced to fight with pneumonia. This time off was to recharge and heal from the pneumonia. I'm ready to rock and roll now."
Dan Rafael
