Shannon Briggs was a firecracker in the heavyweight division best known for extreme aggression and power – but who gave as good as they got?
The one-time heavyweight champion from Brooklyn had a total of 68 fights over his 24-year campaign, scoring an impressive 53 knockouts and losing just six times himself.
Within that record are the likes of Lennox Lewis, George Foreman, Vitali Klitschko and Ray Mercer. ‘The Cannon’ told Ring Magazine that his upbringing in Brownsville – the very same area as Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe – prepared him for a life of fighting.
“It was mean, it was tough. It was rough. Everybody could fight – the grandmothers, the mothers, the fathers, the aunts, the uncles, the babies. Everybody could fight.”
Briggs was one half of plenty of heavyweight battles and stopped twice out of six total losses. He says Lennox Lewis, who ended things in the fifth round in March 1998 – hit him the hardest.
“I fought some punchers! So many vicious punchers that make you say, ‘Wow!’ Ibragimov, little guy but hit pretty hard, he could knock any man out. Botha was a very hard puncher. Ray Mercer hit hard and Vitali Klitschko – let’s not forget Klitschko. He hit me one time so hard I didn’t know where I was at. (laughs) I would say Lennox Lewis – that right hand would kill anybody.”
The 52-year-old reserved the honours of best jab and footwork for ‘Big’ George Foreman, but ultimately landed on Lewis as the best overall, calling him ‘one of the greatest.’
