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July 10, 2006 |
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EXCLUSIVE: Wladimir Waves Off PPV For Fight With Shannon Wants Brother Vitali's WBC Belt Next
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Emanuel Steward confirmed to Boxing2006/Pound4Pound.com that a Nov. 11 fight for Wladimir Klitscko with Shannon Briggs -- as first reported here on June 17 -- is close to being done and that Klitschko has insisted that HBO make the fight available to subscribers, not a pay-per-view event. Tom Loeffler from K2 Promotions also confirmed the November 11 Klitschko/Briggs battle will be on HBO World Championship Boxing, not PPV, where it would stand to do very good business. The main reason for no PPV? Klitschko wants as many fans as possible to see the new-and-improved Wladimir, and HBO has 35 million subscribers.
Steward also said that after Briggs, Wladimir would target the winner of the WBC heavy title fight between Rahman-Maskaev because Wladimir feels strongly about regaining his retired brother Vitali's WBC belt first, before unifying the rest.
Steward said that despite criticism of Briggs as an opponent, he felt Shannon is "way more dangerous than Sam Peter." "All Peter can do is hit you on the back of the head, he's a clubber, and you can't let him get inside of you," said Steward who went on to add, “I don't care what anyone says about Shannon, if you look at great fighters in any era, Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Lewis, if they had to face a guy who was 6-4, 260 with fast hands and can punch with power, he is a real threat to anyone for 4 or 5 rounds. Shannon only trains for four or five round fights (looking for KOs), he doesn't train for long distance. I think if we can get by those rounds, we'll be all right... But I'm not looking forward to those first 4 rounds."
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While many view Briggs as not worthy of a shot at Klitschko due to the club-level caliber of his recent opponents Steward responded by saying, "Shannon has not beaten quality fighters as of late (he has knocked out 11 straight) but he's very big, has very fast hands, punches very fast for a big man with power, and he throws combos.”
Add to that the fact that Briggs picked up more than KOs in his winning streak. In early April his manager Scott Hirsch brought in talented trainer, Jeff Mayweather -- brother to Floyd Sr. and Roger -- to handle his heavyweight. Mayweather was in the corner for Briggs' May 24 third-round TKO of Chris Koval, and Shannon showed noticeable improvement with his defense and the precision of his punches.
You can say what you will about the state of the heavyweights right now, but if Wladaimir and Steward have their way it won't be too long before we get some potentially exciting and intriguing match-ups in a division so desperately needing it.
Klitschko vs. Briggs in November! Wladimir then fighting on a quest to put his brother's WBC heavyweight belt back on the family mantle! Once regarded as the next big "hope" for the division before suffering setbacks, Wladimir under Steward could be poised to fulfill earlier expectations.
Stay tuned.
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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! |
