Was Shannon Briggs ever good?

I think he gets a bit short-changed these days, actually.

He always had good power and handspeed, and while his stamina and work-rate were always issues (mostly due to the asthma), he would often show quite a bit of heart when things started to get out of hand.

I mean, he's not an ATG or anything, but he was a solid enough contender when he was at his best.

 

No. He was hype job with connections. Got a gift against Foreman. Fought a ton of stiffs. His best fight was prob against Lewis lasting 5 rounds after a good first round. Totally dominated by Klitschko. Maybe His best win against a badly faded Mercer.

 

I disagree. His resume is one of the least impressive resumes I have ever seen for a fighter categorized as good. He was a mediocre hype job that had behind the scenes pull. I remember meeting Teddy Atlas back in November of 96 at a book signing for Mark Kriegal's bless me father book and Atlas who was Kriegal's pal was giving out T-shirts for a Briggs fight and I won't name, names but a prominent boxing person also in attendance was there and said this guy is a fraud. He may have fought in the 90s but who did he fight? He has a terribly padded record. I would label plenty of fighters good. Briggs is not one of them. A carefully navigated mediocre (as a pro his amateur career was good) talent. Take away the Foreman win - which shows you the pull he had to A- get the fight and B- get that decision when he fought half as good as Axel Schulz did and who does he have a victories against that merits him good?

 

His amateur career was good, I am referring strictly to his pro career. Why don't you name me these good fighters he defeated in the 90s that qualify him in your opinion as good, Instead of making a cheap joke about a sentence. Did you make the joke to deflect your lack of substance on his defense?

 

This says it pretty well.:good

 

I will give Briggs credit for showing heart in his fights. I don't believe he had power despite the lofty KO record. He would basically blitz a bunch of tomato cans in the first round and overwhelm them. His overly muscular physique may have contributed to his poor stamina as much as his asthma. I guess it depends on the definition of good? I would not place him in the top 20 or maybe even 25 heavyweights of the last 25 years.

 

Just checked his record ,names that mean anything are singularly lacking in the win column.A respectable contender who showed guts in the face of a onesided beatdown by Vitali ,and a spectacularly inept display of refereeing by my local referee Ian John Lewis.

 

He was meant to face Tyson in the late 90s, 98-99ish

that would have been interesting.

 

He wasn't nearly as good as McCline.

Odd, there's a need to consistently try to make out Briggs out to be somehow underrated as threads like this pop up quite a bit.

Meanwhile a guy like McCline not only dominated Briggs, but also picked up others good wins over contenders like Grant and Whitaker and gave good accounts of himself in defeat against Byrd, Brock, and Peter. Oh well...lets once again look for the silver linings in a guy who got gifted against Botha and Old Foreman.

 

Briggs was alright, I think hes the kinda guy who in any era would be at least a fringe contender but by no means do I feel he has ever been or would've ever been the best in the world. Hes a solid opponent could give some good fighters trouble with his size and power but hes very limited in many ways his stamina being a huge detriment and he really seems to lose composure when a fight isn't going his way. Watch his "draw" with Botha, Botha lit him up in that fight wasn't even close that pretty much shows you the kinda fighter Briggs was, I will say this the judges really seemed to like him a lot.

 

have you seen Briggs latest escapades with Wladmir K?

 

That I just don't understand. I hope the guy can get some money but not in another Vitali situation, where it won't even cover the hospital bills. I'd rather see Briggs spar with somebody like Povetkin or Adamek, guys he can make a little money with and won't beat him to death.

 

the whole thing was WWE like, and possibly promoting a 'showdown' between the The Cannon and Dr Steelhammer.

I wouldnt mind seeing Briggs try that **** with Fury or Chisora

 

He had speed and power and could KO journeymen in impressive fashion. But he was basically a hype job who got very lucky against Foreman. Foreman out jabbed and out boxed him which says how poor Briggs skills were.

The fact his best win was probably against a shot Mercer, 10 years past his best or Liakhovich says much about Briggs actual ability. His losses in his prime to Fields, Wilson and McCline show you his true level. Had he not got the lucky decision against Foreman he would have never fought Lewis and be seen on the level of Guinn and Barrett. He was a low level fringe contender who was dangerous for a few rounds. I'd rate fighters like Rahman, Sanders and Maskaev above him.