A former heavyweight champion now in his 50s who scored a win over George Foreman is set to return to the ring this June.
Heavyweights have often been able to fight on longer than those in lower weight divisions. The most famous example of this was the late great Foreman, who set a still unbeaten world record when he became the oldest man to ever lift the division’s world title aged 45 when he built back after a long layoff to beat Michael Moorer.
Now, it is an old friend of ‘Iron Mike’ and fellow Brooklyn man Shannon Briggs who returns to the ring on July 1. As first reported by World Boxing News, the bout is set for Texas and an opponent is yet to be named, though could be fellow former champion Oliver McCall, 59.
Briggs has long since talked of a return. He is now 53 and still holds the record for the most first-round knockouts in the banner division with 37 of them coming in the opening stanza. In all, he scored a total of 53 stoppages from 60 wins and was defeated on just six occasions.
Despite so many fights, Briggs was only world champion briefly in 2006 when he won the WBO belt but lost it in his first defence. He also beat Ray Mercer and Foreman in ‘Big’ George’s final bout – though controversially – but lost to Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko across his career.
He long pursued a fight with Wladimir Klitschko and made his ‘lets go champ!’ catchphrase famous, but hasn’t fought since May 2016 when he beat Emilio Zarate by first-round KO. As with any comeback in this age range and with a significant bout of inactivity, many fans will be worried for Briggs given the dangers of the sport.
