Check out how formidable Briggs was in his undefeated prime in 1996 <object width="480" height="385"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RKduOqSmeBY?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></object>
No he is not. This is the common myth. It is the same as the common myth which holds that the presence of Holyfield is proof of a decline in standards. Every division has had guys who did not deserve title shots, or had guys who stuck around too long. Was Ricky Frazier a "contender". Of course not. He just happened to be the right guy in the right place. Vitali wants Haye, Povetkin, Valuev...he can't get them though. Nonetheless, this fight remains the epitome of a non-win for Vitali.
Briggs was probably braver and had more genuine charisma than Haye, but there were similarities- decent athleticism, fast hands, poor stamina, overrated footspeed, very dangerous early. Briggs is one of these fighters who doesn't get any better or any worse over time. There is no real dip in his ability but absolutely no increase in his learning curve. He is like a car with 3 gears. Always works but never really works. Tonight he has a slim chance thanks to Vitali being nearly 40 and always one step away from an injury but if Vitali get's his tactics correct then it is most likely more of the same. Briggs will hit the front and then get hauled back by Vitali basically being that bit better over 10 laps or so. But Klitschko will have to pay attention every inch of the way, none of those lapses he showed with Sosnowski.
Briggs has never actually been THAT good, but he was considerably better when he fought and lost to Lewis over a decade ago than he is now. Considerably better. MTF
Well that's kind of what I meant. It's not like he hit the peaks and then fell off badly, he's always been a bit of a dipper. You know where he will come good, and where he won't. That kind of fighter.
As you know, I have ragged on this before. Klitschko making announcements to fight Adamek, and now apparently has said he has no intention of "retiring" after tonights fight. I mean....how fucking lightly is he taking Briggs??? If he is taking him that lightly then he probably should not be fighting him.
Shannon is a classic "Winger" in the boxing sense, and is very dangerous for the first several rounds. He can knock Vitali flat if he hits him right, but first has to get close enough to him to do that, and that is going to be the problem for him as it is with everyone, as Vitali hops around the ring in and out of range like a kangaroo. Karl
I fail to see how it was opaque......Briggs does brilliant against a certain type of opponent and fails against another sort. Anybody on the fringes or verges of world class will find Briggs out, a la Botha and Ibragimov. Anybody over the fringes of world class will beat him badly. A la Vitali and Lewis. And when Briggs really doesn't give a fuck, anyone can beat him, a la Cedreck Fields. But when Briggs is in the mood, and the opponent is utter trash, Briggs will usually make them look that way, pretty quickly. Basically Briggs was a one-trick pony. If you were rubbish, he would find you out, if you weren't, you would find him out. Anyways, one thing is not opaque is the chaps medical condition. That's pretty fucking clear. He has been hurt badly and I blame his corner. It's a good job Vitali doesn't have concussive power, eh? :laugh11:
Yeah, I guess that's what happens when you put your guard up and your opponent's response is throwing three consecutive rabbit punches.
A balance shot, rabbit punches and blocked punches describes most of the 30 second outburst Briggs had late in the first...it was the rabbit punches that sent him across the ring, when Lewis did expose himself a pretty good left from Briggs.
If Vitali has concussive power he would have knocked Shannon cleanly out on any one of about FIFTY seperate occassions. As I alluded to last night, Briggs would have been better off being KO-ed, because taking so many flush shots, over and over again, during a systematic beating, will cause you infinately more damage than a single, instant KO. MTF
The hospital said he had a concussion. However, that is just their position, and they have a dozen or so people that disagree with them. But they will stay in there and Cat-Scan and shine torches in eyes for hours and hours for their own amusement. opcorn:
Agreed. The shot that made Lennox stagger didn't really land properly. The volley of rabbit punches were what really hurt Lewis
This is fascinating...I'm listening to the rebroadcast, and both BJ Flores and Dan Rafael say they're surprised that Briggs didn't come out guns blazing because of his bad stamina...repeating that myth that Briggs does that against elite opponents. How many top level opponents has he even done that against? If anything, he's fought more cautiously as he's gotten older, as his stamina's gotten even worse, because he's afraid of gassing out. Is this myth based on his blown up record of first round knockouts over tomato cans or the Lewis fight? If it's based on the Lewis fight, it's like no one remembers that it came at the end of the first round, and it was an opportunity that presented itself to him...the punch that sent Lewis back into the ropes that began everything was not a hard punch, it was more or less a tap, and Lewis was off-balance and not ready to recieve it. That launched everything. Briggs isn't really a wild swinger against elite opponents.
Conventional wisdom had it that Briggs was going to tire out as the fight went on so he would be as well off gambing on a shit-or-bust approach. Once again, the manner in which Briggs was supposed to fight appears to be based upon the hazy misinterpretation of a fight he had a decade ago or more.
