Former heavyweight champ Shannon Briggs is still talking about a comeback. The 53-year-old, last seen in a boxing ring back in May of 2016, says he plans to fight again, and Briggs has encouraged Wladimir Klitschko – who he plagued relentlessly some years back, trying to lure the then heavyweight champ into fighting him – to go ahead with his talk of a return to action.
As fans know, Wladimir, at age 48, has been toying with the idea of coming back in an attempt at breaking George Foreman’s record as the oldest-ever heavyweight champion. And Briggs still wants to fight Wladimir himself.
“There’s no such thing as impossible,” Briggs told Sky Sports. “As we know mankind has done some amazing things. He’s [Klitschko] such a tough man, to become heavyweight champion and be fighting for your country at war with so many lives being lost. This is a true champion, a true strong man. It’s great for boxing. I’d like to fight him, no secret about that. Can’t take nothing away from him as a fighter, as a human being. What a guy.”
Briggs, who says “age is no longer a factor” when it comes to being able to make a successful comeback, suggests he may fight again sometime this year. Of course, this is not the first time Briggs has said he will box again, with him having even put out a date, only for the fight not to happen. One man who doesn’t really want to see Klitschko, or probably Briggs, fight again is Bob Arum. Arum points out that there was a key difference in Foreman’s ability to regain the crown.
“Remember when Foreman came back, it wasn’t [at age] 45 when he came back, it was more like 41 and he had already lost to [Evander] Holyfield and he had been tested so he knew where he was,” Arum said in also speaking with Sky Sports. “But the idea that Klitschko would now come back at 48, without having interim fights, seems a little out of the question.”
Indeed. Wladimir would be risking things badly if he came right back against an elite and active heavyweight. So, will Klitschko fight again? Will Briggs? Briggs is such a character that we just don’t know. I think Wlad might have gone for a return with Tyson Fury if Fury had beaten his countryman and friend Oleksandr Usyk in their recent rematch, but not now. And we know Wladimir has made it abundantly clear he will never fight Usyk.
Maybe Klitschko should not fight anybody, with him staying where he is, retired.
