It looks as though Shannon Briggs has finally talked, harassed and pestered his way into a big fight and the big pay day that will go along with it. After spending months irritating then-heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko in an unsuccessful attempt at getting a title shot – with Briggs entertaining some and irritating others with his war cry of “Let’s go Champ!” – Briggs shifted his attention to the UK scene.
Briggs moved to the UK last month (even renting an apartment in London and saying he may never leave!) and he began to stalk and call out former WBA heavyweight champ David Haye. And though Haye is no longer a champion, Briggs’ war cry remained the same. And today, after engaging in a brief scuffle/shouting match with Haye – who will face unbeaten Arnold Gjergjaj on May 21st – Briggs managed to bate Haye into agreeing to fight him.
The scuffle took place at the Anthony Joshua-Charles Martin weigh-in and Haye spoke to Sky Sports when explaining what happened:
“The big moron Shannon Briggs – everywhere I go, this guy keeps chasing me around,” Haye said. “He can fight on my under-card – if he can win, if he can pass the medical, if he can pass the brain scan, then I’ll knock him out afterwards. His manager called [yesterday] and I said, ‘fight on the under-card and I’ll fight you after.’ He said he wants to do it. So he’s getting knocked out.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd2b48KtVgE
Haye, who was sufficiently ruffled by Briggs to feel the need to apologise to his Sky Sports interviewer for being “a bit wound up,” has bit where Klitschko managed to avoid doing so. But if the fight with the 44-year-old does happen, it will surely be Briggs who lives to regret it. Are there any fans out there seriously willing to give Briggs anything more than an outside puncher’s chance against a fighter as fast, as powerful and as well conditioned as Haye?
It will be interesting to see who Briggs will fight on the Haye-Gjergjaj under-card, but if Briggs can win and look good in doing so, he will likely get himself that big payday before the year is out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8sWsfh40Ms