Shannon Briggs has singled out one man that he believes could have beaten any other heavyweight champion in history.
Briggs himself is a former heavyweight champion, winning the WBO title in 2006 when he knocked out Sergei Liakhovich in the twelfth round – it was later revealed that ‘The Cannon’ was down on all three judges scorecards going into that final round.
But it’s an opponent that Briggs faced eight years earlier that he believes is in the running for being the greatest of all time.
In an interview on One On One Boxing, the brash American said he would back Lennox Lewis against any other big man in history.
“I’m honoured to have fought one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, if not the greatest heavyweight of all time. On any given night, he could beat any other heavyweight champion of the world of any era. His size, his poise, he wasn’t the most flamboyant fighter, stylistic fighter, like an Ali or even a Holmes with the jab, but he got the job done and he had a great jab, a great right hand, tremendous uppercut, a sick left hook when he landed it, he didn’t always land it but when he did it was so effective. So to have fought a legend like that means a lot to me sharing a ring with a great, it’s something to be proud of.
I respect him to the upmost and I say again on any given night he could have beaten any other heavyweight in history. He had something, you can’t beat Lennox twice, he found a way.”
Briggs challenged Lewis for his WBC title in 1998. After a promising start to the fight, where he had Lewis stumbling back against the ropes, the Brit asserted his dominance and ended the contest with a devastating right hand in round five.
