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June 17, 2006 |
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EXCLUSIVE:
Klitschko to Fight Briggs
Nov. 11 at Garden in N.Y.
By William Trillo & Nat Gottlieb |
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Boxing2006/Pound4Pound.com has learned exclusively from multiple sources that Wladimir Klitschko will fight Shannon Briggs on Nov. 11 at Madison Square Garden in a match up of power-punching big men. The two knockout artists have 82 KO's combined in their 101 fights!
The fight, which has been hashed out down to minor details, "is very close to being done," one source said.
This is no rumor, folks. Our sources have confirmed that Klitschko is zeroing in only on Briggs, that a date has already been reserved and the venue would be Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of boxing in the media capital of the world.
The fight has the potential to be the biggest and most exciting heavyweight championship match-up since Lennox Lewis beat Mike Tyson four years ago.
Klitschko is 6-6, 245 pounds, while Briggs is 6-4, 270 pounds. Both these huge men are rippled with muscle and have crowd-pleasing styles. New York, like no other city, loves its heavyweights, and the Garden is a lock to be sold out.
It is also shaping up as an "East" meets "West" fight. Currently, 3 of 4 belt holders in the division are from the former Soviet bloc. Should American Hasim Rahman lose his belt to Oleg Maskaev of Kazakhstani in August, then Briggs would be fighting to bring a heavyweight championship back to America, where it has been lodged 90 per cent of the time for a century.
Toney had briefly been in the Klitschko picture but a reported $1.5 million offer to fight the Ukrainian was not in James ballpark, giving his moniker, "Lights Out,” a whole new meaning.
According to one source very close to Wlad, he thought Toney was getting old, and not just chronologically, but his entire act.
Briggs, however, was attractive, in part because "he is way more popular back East and would make for a better draw at MSG (than Toney)," the source said. "Shannon is on a winning streak right now and is gaining his following back."
A New York source with ties to the Garden said, "It's all true...probably Briggs. We have the date but no deal as of yet."
A source close to the Briggs camp also confirmed that a deal is imminent. "Last I heard it was being worked on and was close to being made," the source said.
Briggs (47-4-1, 41 KOs) was once considered the future of the heavyweight division. At age 26 he beat George Foreman and then got his big shot against champion Lewis is 1998.
But Briggs was an admitted party animal, trained minimally and got by on his tremendous talent. Briggs would lay some serious hurt on Lewis in the early rounds, before running out of steam and losing on a TKO in the 5th after being knocked down three times -- once clear through the ropes.
Briggs has matured since then and has recently been mounting a comeback. Coming out of hard scrabble Brownsville section of Brooklyn, which spawned Tyson and Riddick Bowe, Briggs has won nine straight and 13 of his last 14 matches, all victories coming by knockout. |
"I wasn’t mature enough to fight for the championship (in 1998),” Briggs told us in a recent interview. “I needed to grow up. Everybody was writing these great things about me, and the truth is that only made me weak. I was this street kid, then I was living in this nice suburban house (West Orange), they gave me my own gym, I’m getting laid. I told myself, ‘I’m the man!’ Well, I’m not the man. I was never the man. It was all bullshit.” Klitschko (46-3, 41 KOs), meanwhile is coming off a dominating TKO victory against Chris Byrd which earned him the IBF belt, and has much in common with Briggs.
Like the Brooklyn boxer, Klitschko was also considered the future of the heavyweight division while blowing away his opposition in his twenties. Klitschko was just 24, an Olympic gold winner with a 34-1 record, when he beat Chris Byrd to win the WBO title in 2000. He reeled off four straight successful defenses before suffering a stunning, 2d round TKO loss to Corrie Sanders two years later. Two victories after that, he was again TKO'd, this time in the fifth round, by Lamon Brewster. Suddenly Klitschko's chin was suspect and he lost the luster of invincibility.
Now, after coming off the canvas three times against power-puncher Samuel Peter to win a unanimous decision last September, and then earning his impressive TKO of Byrd in April, Klitschko is the recognized "Man" among heavyweights.
But while Briggs has been facing mediocre competition on his comeback, he is still a dangerous fight for Klitschko to take. Klitschko dominates most of his opposition working off his crisp jab on an 81-inch reach. Briggs, however, has an 80- inch reach and a jab as good if not better than Klitschko's. Should Briggs get inside the champion to test his chin again with the power he possesses, the Ukrainian giant might lose everything he has worked so hard to regain.
In his rejuvenation phase, Briggs said his attitude changed while in the midst of his comeback.
“At first it was just for the paycheck,” Briggs said. "But then I started to feel I was on a mission. I had grown up. I was motivated. I had so much unfulfilled potential."
Vowing to fight as often as possible until he attracted attention, Briggs fought five times last year, and already twice in 2006. In contrast, Klitschko fought twice in both 2004 and 2005, and once this year.
November 11, Madison Square Garden.
Write it down on your calendar.
Great match up of two big heavyweights who will be squaring off
with their individual comebacks on the line. |
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BoxingExclusive.com, Because Press Releases Aren't Exclusive. Because Every Single Interview You Have To Pay To Read Or Watch Aren't Exclusive. Because It's Not Exclusive If Everyone Has It. Because A John Ruiz Interview Isn't Exclusive! |
