Popular former champion Shannon Briggs faced some of the greatest heavyweights of all time during his career.
Briggs carried tremendous power as he put together 20 KO wins out of his first 25 fights before his first loss came against Darroll Wilson in 1996.
One of his standout victories not long after that came in the form of a 12-round majority decision over the legendary but ageing George Foreman, and that earned him a shot at the then WBC heavyweight king Lennox Lewis in Atlantic City in March 1998, though it would end in a stoppage loss for Briggs.
He would fulfil his dream of becoming heavyweight champion when he defeated Siarhei Liakhovich in 2006 for the WBO belt with a knockout in the very last second of the final round. Briggs was down on all three scorecards going into the last. He lost the title just seven months later when he was defeated by Sultan Ibragimov by decision.
During one last world title shot for the WBC belt in 2010, Briggs took an almost uncomfortable-to-watch amount of sustained punishment from Vitali Klitschko across 12 bruising rounds which left him in hospital for a fortnight.
Rather than retire, he then began hounding Vitali’s younger brother Wladimir and was often seen chasing him around the world and shouting his now famous catchphrase ‘let’s go champ,’ though a fight never materialised.
He eventually called it a day in May 2016 with a record of 54 knockout wins from 60 fights with just six losses.
Speaking to The Ring Magazine for their The Best I Ever Faced feature, Briggs was asked to name who was his greatest opponent. After a little debate, he went with the former undisputed heavyweight ruler Lewis and lavished the Brit with high praise.
“Lennox and George. Ray Mercer was incredible, Botha was tough. I’d say Lennox Lewis, one of the greats. One of the greatest heavyweights of all time.”
After defending his world titles against Vital Klitschko one final time, Lewis retired in 2003 after having beaten every man he ever faced – twice in rematches – but recently suggested he could return to take on Jake Paul.
