Shannon 'The Cannon' Briggs (now 59-6-1), holder of the world record for most first-round knockouts in professional boxing, is difficult to write about. In order to see Briggs fight for five minutes, you have to watch three fights; although if his recent fight with Mike Marrone (now 21-4) is anything to go by, this may have something to do with who he's been fighting. On September 5^th, following a knockdown in the first round, Briggs backed Marrone into a corner, limply flipped out a couple jabs, and then launched a sternum-crunching right hand into Marrone when he covered up, downing him with a pair of left hooks (body, then face) as an afterthought. As has become obligatory for Briggs during his comeback, as soon as the immediate formalities of his victory had elapsed (and maybe a little before), he stood up and shouted “Where's Klitschko? Let's go champ!”

It's difficult to doubt that Briggs wants to fight Wlad Klitschko. I'm not even sure if he much cares whether or not it happens in a ring. Be assured, the reason he's not isn't because Klitschko is ducking him, but because Klitschko, unlike Briggs, does not fight bums like Mike Marrone. Personally, I think Hammer would be a fine pick for Briggs' next fight, or maybe Arreola if he can't get Hammer. Then Stiverne, or Wilder if he gets that far. It's more reasonable for him from an advancement perspective, but also all of those would be way better than watching Briggs bully Marrone for all of two rounds. The main problem is that Briggs, in the ring and out, is a heavyweight from another age. He's not a Klitschko or a Stiverne, he's a Dempsey, a Marciano. He'll walk up to you, and, as he said, “fight like you're in the hood, knock them out and yell 'World Star!'” When I watch his fight with Vitali Klitschko, I get this sense of missed opportunity. There are 5 or 10 second intervals when he gets up on his toes, moves laterally, and mixes in body shots like you're supposed to. It looks like he could start winning, and then he stops. There are times when he places his head off-center, slips the jab, rolls under the right, comes to the inside and doesn't throw anything. There were physical factors at play, Briggs is a 262 lb athsmatic and he had torn his left bicep in the first round, but there were also a huge array of technical screwups. Of course, as a Briggs fan, I categorize his technique issues as “potential.” The thing that will decide whether or not Briggs has an actual Foreman-esque comeback or recedes into obscurity will be whether or not he can fix his science up, get physically ready for a 12-round fight, and then use that prep on someone who matters.

 I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I really like Shannon Briggs. (and Tyson Fury for a lot of the same reasons, but he'll get written about when he fights Klitschko on Oct. 24). He plays to the crowd. In the third round of his fight with Lennox Lewis, when repeatedly hit with right hooks from the clinch, he gave his head a theatrical shake after each one as if to say “that wasn't so bad, Lennox.” When Briggs makes up little names for his opponents ("Beyonce Wilder," "Wladimir Scarecrow") or says the most successful heavyweight in recent memory is "a bum...the most boring figure in all of sports," and throws a shoe at him, it's exciting! His out of ring “antics” (Briggs' words) are studiously managed for interest and upset, but he never hurts anybody. He does these things to get famous, get fights, and stay independent, saying that he “don't want no pimpin' manager...no pimpin' promoter.” Briggs fulfills that Dempsey tradition; the guy is a rough man from a rough background who doesn't quite play by the rules, doesn't fight like he's had lessons, doesn't quite do what you expect him to, doesn't mind getting beaten up. Do I think he's going to have a heavyweight championship again? No. But I could see him making it to a title fight if he started challenging real opposition. Let's go, champ. Let's go.

Quotes Sourced From: KO Digest Interview: Shannon Briggs

Photo Credit: Conekt (Via Flickr)