Best I Faced: Shannon Briggs
Big-punching Shannon Briggs was a touted amateur who, after turning professional, split a pair of fights with two of the greatest heavyweights of all time and became the lineal champion in the process. Later in his career, he scored a last-round, come-from-behind knockout to claim a world title.
Briggs, who was an only child, was born in the notoriously tough Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, on December 4, 1971.
“It was mean, it was tough. It was rough,” Briggs told The Ring. “Everybody could fight – the grandmothers, the mothers, the fathers, the aunts, the uncles, the babies. Everybody could fight.
“It was a place where people took pride in having hand skills. Later on, the guns came, but people could fight. That’s why you’ve got Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe. I’m from Brownsville. Three heavyweight champions from Brownsville. It’s unheard of. You can’t go anywhere in the world and find three heavyweight champions [from the same place], let alone a neighborhood that’s so small it’s not even two miles in size. We have over 30 project buildings with kids with testosterone buildup ready to fight at all times.”
Briggs didn’t start boxing until he was in his mid-teens, but he eventually found Jimmy O’Pharrow’s Starrett City Boxing Club, where he was trained by James O’Farrell.
“Everybody could fight – the grandmothers, the mothers, the fathers, the aunts, the uncles, the babies. Everybody could fight.”
Briggs went on to win the New York Golden Gloves and PAL championships and represented the U.S. at the 1991 Pan-American games in Cuba. After receiving byes until the final, he lost to the iconic Felix Savon, who dropped the still-green youngster in the opening round and finished him off soon afterwards.
The hope was that Briggs would go to the 1992 Olympics, but he broke his hand in the trials.
In mid-1992, Briggs, who went 33-4 as an amateur, turned professional against John Basil Jackson and scored what would become his trademark: a first-round knockout.
Few fighters could match Briggs’ flair for self-promotion. (Photo by Larry Marano/Getty Images)
“I was knocking people out,” he said of his early career. “I was fast, brash, I could talk and I was having fun.”
By March 1996, Briggs had built his record to 25-0 with 20 knockouts – 15 of those KOs in the opening round. HBO then aired a show dubbed “Night of The Young Heavyweights” with the premise of showcasing several rising heavyweights, and one of them was Briggs. He was matched with fellow unbeaten Darroll Wilson. While it was a step up, it was one Briggs was expected to make. It didn’t work out, however; he was stopped in the third round.
“After that loss, a lot of people turned their backs on me,” said Briggs. “That loss showed me about resilience, because everyone shit on me.”
Out of the spotlight, Briggs notched four wins before another big opportunity came his way.
“It was amazing, because if I hadn’t lost to Darroll Wilson, I never would have got the fight with George Foreman,” he said. “[Wilson] went on to fight David Tua, who I think knocked him out in the first round. Life has its twists and turns.”
This version of Briggs was very different.
“My mother had died. She raised me by herself, no father,” said Briggs, who was galvanized by the loss and responded in the ring, edging past Foreman with a hard-fought, 12-round majority decision. “I had to put 100 percent of my attention into the fight. He couldn’t knock me out if he wanted to. I became lineal champion. Nothing really changed. Kept on moving, taking care of my wife and kids.”
That win earned him a shot at WBC heavyweight titleholder Lennox Lewis in Atlantic City in March 1998.
“I think Lennox tried to knock me out early, and that took him off his game plan. When he settled down, he was able to be more himself,” explained Briggs, who had his moments before succumbing in five exciting rounds. “I went into that fight with a broken hand, but I couldn’t say no. My management was against me not waiting to fight later on; they wanted to fight now. The money was on the table and that’s what happened.
“The Lennox fight … I almost had him in the first round, and in the second round I caught him with some good shots. It was a very entertaining fight. It showed people I belonged.”
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Briggs returned with a first-round knockout over trial horse Marcus Rhode, then met Frans Botha. Again Briggs had to fight through considerable adversity en route to having to settle for a 10-round draw against the South African.
“I fought Botha with a torn bicep and I had an ulcer the size of a dime in my stomach,” he said.
“The Cannon” continued to blast through a certain level of opponent but suffered a surprising defeat to Sedreck Fields (MD 8) and later to Jameel McCline (UD 10).
Over the next four years, Briggs reeled off 11 consecutive wins, all by knockout, and also took part in an ill-advised K1 contest that lasted one round (Briggs won). However, his boxing endeavors were rewarded with a fight against recently minted WBO titlist Siarhei Liakhovich as part of a Don King promotion in Phoenix, Arizona, in November 2006.
Briggs takes a shot at Francois Botha in 1999 — their fight would end in a draw. (Photo by David Leeds/Allsport via Getty Images)
“I kept chipping away and I won that fight. I won it in the 12th round,” said Briggs. “I was behind [on all three scorecards] and stopped him with one second left.
“I won the belt and I was happy. I worked hard for it. Boxing isn’t an easy job; it’s a tough business.”
His championship tenure didn’t last long, and Briggs dropped the title to Sultan Ibragimov (UD 12) in a listless fight. That prompted a two-year break from boxing.
After returning with a trio of wins, Briggs talked his way into a WBC title fight with Vitali Klitschko in Hamburg, Germany, in October 2010. The American took an unholy amount of punishment but somehow lasted the distance, though he spent the next two weeks in a hospital.
That wasn’t the end for Briggs, who resurfaced again four years later. He targeted Vitali’s younger brother, Wladimir, who was in possession of the Ring, IBF, WBA and WBO titles. Armed with his mantra, “Lets Go, Champ,” he hounded Klitschko wherever he could find him:
He was unable to secure the fight but remained active, scoring a handful of early stoppages, but he couldn’t land anything meaningful. His last fight was in May 2016, and he sports an impressive 60-6-1 (54 knockout) record.
“I wish I could do it all again; I’d have fought everyone different, and I’d have been a helluva champ. I’d have been one of the best heavyweight fighters ever, because I did it all with asthma,” he said. “I went into every fight fearful that I’d run out of gas – not that I didn’t train all the time – don’t know when it’s going to kick in. But I did the best I could with what I had, and I think I did all right.”
Briggs, now 52, is married, has three children and lives in Miami. He has also appeared in the movies Bad Boys 2 and Transporter 2.
“I’m not retired; I’m on the hunt looking for someone to knock out,” he said. “I want to knock out Rampage Jackson; we’re working on Riyadh.”
He graciously took time to speak to The Ring about the best he fought in 10 key categories.
BEST JAB
George Foreman: “The greatest jab that I felt right in my face, every time, that wouldn’t miss, was George Foreman. It wasn’t the fastest jab, but it was very accurate and I couldn’t get away from it sometimes. (laughs) Lennox was a tough jab to get away [from]; he had an accurate, strong jab. Ray Mercer (August 2005) had an accurate jab. It hurt. It was like a right hand.”
BEST DEFENSE
Sultan Ibragimov (June 2007): “Couldn’t catch him. He was moving a lot.”
BEST FOOTWORK
Foreman: “That would have to be George. He was so calm and relaxed. He knew where he was at in the ring, and he could cut the ring off and step around pretty good.”
BEST HANDSPEED
Frans Botha: “He didn’t seem that fast, but Francois Botha, he had very deceiving speed.”
SMARTEST
Foreman: “I’m going back to George, and Sultan Ibragimov was a pretty slick fighter – stayed away, was smart – but I would say George.”
STRONGEST
Lennox Lewis: “I’d probably say Lennox. He was solid. When I grabbed him in a clinch in the first round, it was like hugging a building. I couldn’t believe it. He wasn’t moving back, he was so strong. George was strong, too. He was planted.”
BEST CHIN
Foreman: “I hit Botha with some bombs and he stood up. George took a helluva shot. I was young, I was 25, I was cracking. He was pretty swollen after the fight. I would give it to George.”
BEST PUNCHER
Lewis: “I fought some punchers! So many vicious punchers that make you say, ‘Wow!’ Ibragimov, little guy but hit pretty hard, he could knock any man out. Botha was a very hard puncher. Ray Mercer hit hard and Vitali Klitschko – let’s not forget Klitschko. He hit me one time so hard I didn’t know where I was at. (laughs) I would say Lennox Lewis – that right hand would kill anybody.”
BEST BOXING SKILLS
Lewis: “He could jab, he could move, he was smart, he knew when to fight.”
BEST OVERALL
Lewis: “Lennox and George. Ray Mercer was incredible, Botha was tough. I’d say Lennox Lewis, one of the greats. One of the greatest heavyweights of all time.”
Questions and/or comments can be sent to Anson at elraincoat@live.co.uk.
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