By James Slater: According to the usually reliable BoxRec.com website, Shannon Briggs, the former two-time heavyweight world champ (Linear and World Boxing Organization) is set to return to the ring this February 2nd. No opponent has been named as of yet, but Briggs, now aged 36 and with a fine 48-5-1(42) record, is scheduled to fight in Scottsdale, Arizona. Also due to appear on the bill are Zahir Raheem and Carlos De Leon Jnr. Should Briggs’ fight go ahead, it will be his first bout since his June 2007 points loss to the unbeaten Sultan Ibragimov. Briggs lost his WBO belt in that fight, and the question now is, can “The Cannon” get himself back into the big picture at heavyweight?
If the old adage in boxing that reads, “you’re only as good as your last fight,” is to be listened to, Briggs is pretty much a busted flush. Putting in a disappointing effort against Ibragimov, Briggs was widely outscored over the 12 rounds. Claiming his life-long battle with asthma was a major factor in his loss, Briggs should perhaps be given the benefit of the doubt. After all, the fight with Ibragimov was postponed due to ill health on the part of Shannon the first time around. Forgetting the Ibragimov loss, however, Briggs showed how dangerous he can be in his fight before. Trailing on points going into the final round of his fight with the highly rated Serguei Lyakhovich ( who makes his own comeback Vs Nicolay Valuev on Feb 16th), Briggs knocked his man clean out of the ring to annex the WBO belt. That fight was back in November 2006, and before that Briggs had racked up eleven wins against moderate opposition.
So, the loss to Ibragimov aside, Briggs’ recent form has been okay. Still young enough at 36, the Brooklyn man could yet be a factor in the top half of today’s heavyweight scene. With the division as wide open as it has been for some time, a fighter with Briggs’ talent SHOULD have a place at or near the top. Three things will tell us how serious Briggs is about his latest comeback, however. Number one, what calibre of opponent he fights on Feb 2nd, number two, his weight in the bout and third and finally, how soon it is when Briggs gets back in the ring – assuming, of course, that he wins in comeback bout number one.
Briggs is a guy whose weight has fluctuated in the past. As low as 253 pounds recently, Briggs weighed-in at a whopping 273 for the Ibragimov fight; and this from a guy who made his pro-debut at the low weight of just 205 pounds. Obviously, Briggs can’t be expected to come in anywhere near that light ever again, but he can work hard enough to ensure he fights at an acceptable weight. The mid 250s is probably Shannon’s best fighting weight these days, any higher and “The Cannon” simply can’t fire out enough artillery.
A gifted athlete (his asthma aside), Briggs is definitely a fighter who should have gone further than he has done. Rightly proud of how he has defied his asthma and gone on to win his share of glory, Briggs would likely claim that he is no underachiever. But with his physical tools, speed and power, shouldn’t the Brooklyn man have done even more than he has? Once called the heir apparent to the heavyweight throne, it is clear Briggs fell a long way short of becoming the division’s undisputed and dominant force. Still, Briggs has usually held his own against the top guys he’s faced. Aside from an early-career shock at the hands of Darroll Wilson (another loss attributed to asthma), Briggs has only been stopped by the great Lennox Lewis, in a very exciting fight. Considering how Briggs has been in with men like George Foreman (W12) Francois Botha (D10) Jameel McCline (L10) and Ray Mercer (W KO7), that’s not bad going.
Maybe, just maybe, Briggs will go on to finish off his career with some notable and impressive wins in the coming year or so. It’s still too early to tell, but if Briggs gets some momentum going, he might figure in some big heavyweight fights in the future. Let’s see how he gets on on February 2nd, and then we can more accurately gauge what Shannon Briggs may or may not have left to offer his sport.