By James Slater – There are three pretty big boxing news items currently circulating on the net. Firstly, Shannon Briggs, who will challenge WBC heavyweight king Vitali Klitschko in Germany on October 16th, said today at a press conference in Kiev, Ukraine, that he will make “Dr. Steel Hammer” his “30-second first-round KO victim.”
Briggs, 38 and having won his last three bouts via 1st-round KO, says a lot of his fights tend to end in quick time, and that this will be the case in October. “The Cannon,” 51-5-1(45) also told the gathered media that it was Klitschko who inspired him to make the comeback he set out on after his poor showing against Sultan Ibragimov..
Briggs, who ballooned in weight after the 2007 points loss, recalled how Vitali bumped into him in a restaurant and playfully patted his swollen belly. “In that moment right there I decided to come back,” Briggs said.
So, it looks like we can expect the New Yorker, a guy who can indeed bang, to come out all guns blazing on Oct. 16th. But what will happen to Briggs if the 39-year-old champ’s granite chin withstands the early barrage? Will the challenger’s well documented stamina issues resurface?
Sticking with the heavyweights, UFC’s Kimbo Slice has been telling everyone who will listen how excited he is to be making his boxing debut – tentatively set for later this year; anywhere between October and December. What is the sporting world coming to? First we have boxing legend James Toney trying his hand at MMA (and losing badly), now we have a MMA guy jumping ship to boxing! Slice, who says he is looking forward to “breaking a jaw with one punch“, can’t possibly do any worse than Toney did in his crossover bout. Can he?
Finally, and perhaps of most interest, is the news that Dan Rafael has written about on his Twitter page regarding how the delayed 126-pound rumble between Juan Manuel Lopez and Rafael Marquez is re-set to go ahead on November 6th. Apparently, Gary Shaw, co-promoter of Marquez, told Rafael that the fight will still take place in Las Vegas, at The MGM, the first Saturday in November.
A great fight on paper, Marquez’s challenge of “Juanma” could well ensure the boxing year goes out with a bang.