by James Slater – Former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs is still convinced he has what it takes to topple the mighty Klitschko brothers; even at the age of 38 and after having had a lengthy layoff. Feeling he possesses the size, strength, ability and desire to get the job done against either brother and bring the belts back home to America, “The Cannon” continues to call out the two “Doctors..”
Next up for Briggs is a scheduled ten-rounder against Owen “What The Heck” Beck at The Hard Rock in Fort Lauderdale on April 13th; so Online Sports Handicapping website has announced (tickets are on sale now). This fight could possibly be a decent and entertaining encounter for Briggs, and if 33-year-old Beck, 29-4(20) comes in in good condition the Jamaican could prove a test for the Brooklyn fighter.
Briggs, 48-5-1(42) is coming off a NC 1(originally a 1st-round stoppage win) against Marcus McGee, the December fight being changed to a NC because of the fact that Briggs was found to have tested positive for a banned substance afterwards. This fight had followed a two-and-a-half year layoff for Briggs, and against Beck he will be looking to get a good win and keep it.
Though Beck is a recognisable name, and one who may well show up in good fighting shape in April, the younger man’s recent form doesn’t suggest he will beat Briggs and derail the New Yorker’s hopes of landing the big fight with a Klitschko. Stopped in the 10th-round in his last outing, by the undefeated Manuel Charr in Germany a couple of months or so ago, Beck was stopped for the third time in his pro career. Still, before the Charr fight, Beck had won his last four fights; his only other recent loss coming against then WBA heavyweight champ Nikolai Valuev, a 3rd-round TKO loss in 2006.
A lot may depend on the weights of the two men when they meet next month. Beck has been known to come in as high as the low 260s in the past, while Briggs has also been guilty of carrying too much weight in fights at times. Surely, with both men knowing the fight is a must-win affair, there will be two well conditioned big men in the ring in April. One would hope so, anyway.
We don’t really know how much either guy has left in the tank, though. Briggs has never taken too much punishment in his career, but he has been highly inactive over the past few years (just four fights in the last four years) and as such, we don’t know how his stamina will hold up if he’s forced to go into the later rounds of a bout. And as for Beck, his ambition may well have ran out a while ago now.
The scheduled ten-rounder may well prove interesting, and if it is a competitive fight the contest may tell us a little more about Briggs’ chances against the elite men of the heavyweight division he was once at the top of. It’s tough to make a prediction here, because we don’t know what either guy has to offer today, but Briggs, if he has retained some of the skills he once had, should get the win. I go for Briggs to get the stoppage win in around 5 or 6-rounds.