This news will not please the purists, but fans of ‘fun fights’ might be forced to raise a smile. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has announced on X how he will be making his pro boxing debut in Qatar on June 1st………against former lineal and WBO heavyweight champ Shannon Briggs. For some time now, these two have had a beef with one another, and now the fight will happen.
“I finally got the contract. It’s been over two years in the making of me hearing Mr. Shannon Briggs’ mouth,” Jackson wrote on social media. “I get to shut him up once and for all in Qatar, on June 1. I got to sign this contract. Shannon, you’re going to regret even calling me out all those years ago and you’ve been posting just ungodly videos of me, tagging me in ungodly videos and I just endured it. I got the contract. Thank God. I’m going to shut your mouth once and for all.”
It’s not yet clear if this one will be a legit fight or an exhibition bout (it seems to be the former), but “Rampage,” as you can guess from his words, is plenty excited about the upcoming encounter. Jackson is 45, Briggs is 52. Can these two veterans put on a good, entertaining fight? Will you even watch to find out on June 1?
Briggs, inactive since way back in 2016, has been talking, and talking, about fighting again for so long, and now the New Yorker who has made ‘Let’s go, Champ’ his mantra will see action again. But what if anything has Briggs got left? What if anything can “Rampage” do in the boxing ring? Again, do you even care?
It does seem as though there is basically no limit to these kind of ‘special attraction,’ (call them freak shows if you wish) events/fights/exhibitions, with the sport just about inundated with all manner of bouts that pit two ageing names together (recently, we’ve seen James Toney battling Razor Ruddock, to name one crazy event that made plenty of fight fans shudder).
And the trend doesn’t seem like going out of fashion any time soon. As many a fan has written on the various forums, if nobody watches, or pays to watch, these ‘fights’ will not happen. Clearly there is a market for these type of ‘special attractions.’ And Briggs and Jackson will become the latest to pick up a piece of the action and the cash.
Above all, as is the wish ahead of any of these type of bouts, let’s hope nobody gets badly hurt. Briggs is a great guy, a fun guy, and he should be doing just about anything but swapping punches with someone at this stage in his life. Jackson, once a fine MMA fighter, hasn’t had a real fight in years.
Who on earth knows what we will get when these two collide in the summer!