14.02.07 – By Michael Marley, BoxingConfidential.com – Dr. Islon Woolf, internal medicine specialist and assistant clinical professor at Nova University, told Boxingconfidential.com Tuesday night that WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs got hit unexpectedly with a medical “Bermuda Triangle” of illnesses. They are aspirational pneumonia, which does not mean Shannon “aspired” to come down with pneumonia, sleep apnea and asthma..
Dr. Woolf, who has many celebrity clients including singer Lenny Kravitz and P. Diddy, said that, ironically, Briggs might be feeling much better on or about March 10 when his mandatory title defense against Sultan Ibragimov was supposed to take place on HBO at Madison Square Garden. “Shannon must totally relax now for two weeks,” Dr .Wo said from his Alton Road South Beach (Miami) office. In that time, the pneumonia can be resolved. In about a month, or around March 10, he should be much better but it would be unfair for him to fight then because he will have lost a month of training.”
Dr. Woolf said he was stunned at Briggs’ condition when the champ came to see him Thursday.
“I tested his lung capacity and it was at 50 percent. He now has a regimen of antibiotics, cortisone and nebulizers (inhalers). Shannon was also seen by a pulmonary expert. Aspirational pneumonia is what you get when you are sucking in fluids and they go into your trachea and not down your throat. That is why Shannon has been feeling bad for about two weeks. He was walking around and not feeling well. Where he normally runs nine miles a day, he could not run a mile. He had night sweats. He just attributed it to his asthma and he thought it would pass.
“His sleep apnea is a very common diagnosis with men who are either very muscular or very fat. When you relax, the throat gets small and you wake up choking,” Dr. Woolf said. “The throat literally closes down when you are sleeping. This is probably a condition Shannon has had all his life but he did not know what it was.
“So this combination of things is what knocked Shannon out of defending his world title on March 10. In a short time, I am sure Shannon will be back stronger and better than ever. Now he knows what he must contend with and these conditions will be properly treated.”
Personally, I am “aspiring” to have none of the above. You know this doctor is no “Woolf” in internal medicine specialist’s clothing.