Former lineal heavyweight champ Shannon Briggs has not fought for four years (taking out Emilio Zarate in a round on a David Haye undercard on May 21 of 2016, to improve to 60-6-1 with 53 KO’s) but the 48 year old insists he is not done yet. In fact, as has been picked up by numerous boxing websites and publications, Briggs is talking, very seriously, about fighting Mike Tyson.
Briggs is adamant that he and Tyson have been talking and have agreed to engage in an exhibition bout. Briggs first spoke with a fan via social media, and he said the following:
“I just talked to Mike Tyson, it’s going down, me and Mike we’re going to make it happen, it’s official, you’re going to see it happen, Brownsville versus Brownsville,” Briggs said. “Me and Tyson are going to lace up the gloves, we’re going to rumble, rumble in the jungle, we’re going to let our fist do the talking.”
Briggs also spoke with Sirius XFM:
“The money is there, the money is almost there, I can’t say much more, I’ll leave it at that,” Briggs said. “This is for charity, this is an exhibition, I want people to understand. We all know it’s an exhibition and then we will see what’s left in the tank. It’s for charity, it will be fun, but this is Mike Tyson we are talking about. He naturally hits hard, so he might hit me and he might break my rib. We have to be fully prepared.”
https://twitter.com/SiriusXMBoxing/status/1261342343032115206?s=20
Who knows if Briggs is giving us solid stuff, or merely fantasy stuff. But this is certain, many people would watch, even pay to watch, if Tyson and Briggs did fight; even in an exhibition affair.
Will it be Tyson against Holyfield, or will it be Tyson against Briggs? It seems Mike Tyson will engage in some bout or another sometime over the coming months. Call it crazy if you want – you already have – but Tyson still has that star power, that mystique. And of course, it will all be in a good cause.