Well Brigg's for all his faults, had Lennox rocking and rolling .So if Shannon come s out fast we could be looking at another Michael Bentt type ko .Brigg's also had the better Chin ,so he takes Morrison s stuff better. I'll go with Tommy hurt early in the first round but surviving till the next, but a frantic Briggs drops him 3 times for the win
Anything can happen in this match Morrison was KO'd by Bentt, drew (and was dropped twice) with Puritty, struggled vs Joe Hipp and shot Carl Williams. Briggs wasn't better. He was KO'd by Wilson, lost to Botha and old Foreman (both were blatantly robbed), was schooled by McCline and outboxed by Cedreck Fields.
"ring" magazine had a photo of briggs in the ring holding his new belt after the foreman fight. unless they had two belts ready with each of their names on them, or had an incredibly fast engraver ring side, briggs' name was already on it! that was a robbery! briggs KNEW he lost. he walked back to his corner in a slumped posture. he sat on his stool in a beaten manner! when they announced him as the winner, his face showed complete surprise.
Briggs vs Sergie L was a perfect example of being durable & having late power (also drug testing was minimal) Briggs was durable & had a solid chin, Morrison on the other hand showed offensive abilty- Mercer until he tired & his chin gassed or Bent when he went in wild & got caught. Tommy was a big boy with a powerful left hook but had the chin of a small middleweight. With out mentioning names I know a big 6"7 heavyweight that is active today that has the chin of a small welterweight. Briggs would be outboxed & rocked until he landed could be early like bent or a 12th rd like he did Sergie but Briggs wrong guy for Tommy unless T.M. repeats the Foreman fight showing in perfection then he takes a 12 rounder.
To me, Brigg's didn't seem particularly durable until later in his career when he put a ridiculous amount of weight, something like 30+ pounds of pure muscle. Compare some of the drubbings he took later in his career to the two times he was stopped early in his career....
Good point, his losses early on were due to imaturity but later when he became comfortable in his own skin & survived Foreman he started to mature. He took some terrific punches against an old Vitali & took a beating as bad as Tex Cobb vs Holmes I dont know what keeps him up but older fighters like Big George learned to relax & pace themselves & unload then rest, with age you learn how to pace & last & use your experience. (in the bedroom or the ring, age will do that to you )
Why? You don't think he could accomplish what the legendary Darrol Wilson did against Briggs? Morrison was by far a better fighter than Briggs.
Heart says Morrison but it's hard to shake the image of Briggs stopping him late while well behind on the cards out of my head.... Not an easy fight to call in any case.
I'm gonna pick the guy with the most first round knockouts ever to beat the guy who got sparked in one round by a nobody.
How bout let's compare a common opponent? Big George. Tommy clearly beat George in 93.... Briggs got his ass kicked from pillar to post by George and was awarded one of the worst decisions in boxing history. Tommy also beat Ruddock, who was about 10 miles better than Briggs. I've noticed that the Briggs hype on this forum has always been crazy. I say this as a fellow New Yorker.... Shannon Briggs was a bum.
I don't give a rat's ass how many first round KO's Briggs had.... Morrison was by FAARR the bigger puncher of these two. Was more talented in general.