It’s probably fair to say that Shannon Briggs has done more talking than fighting over the years. Sure, the New Yorker at one time held the lineal heavyweight title, and later the WBO heavyweight strap, and “The Cannon” picked up wins over George Foreman, Ray Mercer, and Siarhei Liakhovich, but Briggs has not done anything of note recently. Apart from talk.
Briggs, 60-6-1(53) and inactive since May of 2016, has been talking again. Speaking with IFL TV, the 50-year-old said he aims to fight again on August 6 (no opponent or venue given) and that he has plans to get back to world championship level “step by step.”
Briggs is nothing if not a whole lot of fun, and maybe it would be good to see him back in action – against limited opposition. But talk of a world title fight is surely just that, talk. Big talk.
“I will be returning to the ring soon, hopefully on August 6, so it will be the return of the champ,” Briggs said. “We are going to figure it out. We are looking at names and step by step we will be getting back and I will look for the heavyweight champion of the world real soon. Nobody wants to fight me, they’re scared.”
Maybe, but maybe the fighters Briggs is thinking of (and who on earth knows who they are) are more so scared of either hurting Briggs or of hurting their reputation – or both. Again, it could be fun seeing Briggs back in the ring, at veteran level, but talk of anything big or significant is just that, crazy talk.
Briggs, if he’s serious about fighting again, could maybe get it on with Lucas Browne, who just revived his career with a shock win over Junior Fa. Or maybe Briggs could fight another old guy like David Haye; maybe that talked of fight could still happen?
Who knows with Briggs. The man with the ‘Let’s Go, Champ’ mantra has spoken about a ring return before (even stating how he would be fighting Wladimir Klitschko, this in an interview last year), yet nothing came of it. Maybe nothing will this time. But Briggs is a good guy to have around the sport, in one capacity or another. In some ways, no-one gives a better interview.
