Shannon Briggs believes one man is out on his own when it comes to the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.
Briggs himself is a former WBO world champion who also held the lineal heavyweight title from 1997 to 1998. ‘The Canon’ was a big puncher who always fought with plenty of aggression and ended up with an 88% knockout ratio with 37 first-round KOs from his 60 total wins.
His most famous victory came over George Foreman in November 1997, but six months later, he lost the lineal title to Lennox Lewis. He has not fought since a victory in May 2016, but often speaks of hoping to make a return against MMA legend Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson.
Despite no comeback booked, Briggs continues to comment on boxing both past and present. In a recent interview with First Round TV, he was asked to name his ‘Mount Rushmore of boxing’, and named Jack Johnson as an early heavyweight great before settling on Muhammad Ali as the best ever.
“The best heavyweight we ever got to see on camera at the time, and we don’t know what he could have done. So number one. Greatest ever we got to see, movement side to side, relaxed, punches coming, he ain’t even blinking, he’s just chilling with it. Unreal.”
Johnson was a trailblazer in the sport and was the first African American world heavyweight champion. Ali made a similarly seismic impact that transcended the sport.
Not only is the former undisputed champion often regarded as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, but he was also a vocal advocate of civil rights and a global cultural icon who refused the draft for the Vietnam War and so was banned from competing during what might have been his prime years.
