Vitali Klitschko vs Evander Holyfield

I disagree on overall wins and that aside Briggs hadn't beaten a decent opponent for 4 years before the fight. He's one of Vitalis weaker wins

 

Sure. But he was still better than the version of Thomas that Tyson had beaten.

 

Thomas was a world champion a year before fighting Tyson, was Briggs before fighting Vitali?

 

Wow, so you're making the case that it was a weak ass division then?

 

Agreed.

The difference is that Rob Calloway, Dominique Alexander and Rafael Pedro amount to Briggs entire result set in more than a three year period, prior to being given a shot at Vitali.

Not only does it not merit a title shot; it doesn't even warrant a ranking.


Thomas in the same/similar timeframe, leading up to his World Championship challenge of Tyson, faced:

Bruce Grandham
Tim Witherspoon
Mike Weaver
Trevor Berbick
Narcisco Maldonado
William Hosea
Danny Sutton


The two schedules over the same time period don't really compare, at all.


Additionally, Thomas' loss to Berbick was razor thin and so Thomas was seeking another shot, as soon as possible; preferably a rematch with Berbick, which he had a right to lobby for and keep busy until his chance arose.

Don King wanted Berbick/Tyson instead and so it was. Mike beat Berbick, then unified against Smith - then a window of opportunity opened for Thomas. Tyson was now going to face the WBC Number-1, WBA Number-3 and Ring Number-3 ranked contender.


Again - no comparison in ranking between Thomas and Briggs.


That Thomas, with a relatively recent track record and ranking, was still in contention and just biding his time for another turn, seems to have been missed by some, in this 'compare and contrast' with Briggs. The latter's relatively sudden opportunity was based on nothing but unknowns.


Thus, the stories of each fighter, for the respective time periods in question, are also are very different.


But the biggest difference of all, between Thomas and Briggs, is that Thomas had a skill-set and Ring-IQ that Briggs might only dream of.

 

When Trevor Berbick is one of your criteria for proclaiming the greatness of a fighter, you know that you have got problems

 

I'm with him. I'd put money on old Sanders beating that version of Douglas. Fat, disinterested, and making rookie mistakes. Douglas had no heart.

 

No way!Thomas was a 28 years old top ten ranked fighter.Briggs a 38 years old, left over.

 

Here's the glowing description of Thomas from journalists of the time:

"The pale pink shorts and T-shirt of Pinklon Thomas look like something derived from throwing a red shirt in the wrong load of laundry. His legs are called heavy, his once grand left hand is judged weary, and his upcoming heavyweight championship fight with crisp young Mike Tyson is by all appearances just another rout. Unless there is just possibly something to prevent that in the curiously durable character of Thomas.

The common assessment of Saturday night's combined World Boxing Council-World Boxing Association title fight at the Las Vegas Hilton is that Tyson, the reigning titleholder, will make typically brief work of a seemingly worn 29-year-old Thomas, the No. 1 WBC contender whose sheer wrongheadedness wrecked him two years ago."
[...]
But he remained idle until last March, when he lost his title to a merely fair Trevor Berbick, whom Tyson knocked out in the second round in November 1986, becoming the youngest heavyweight champion in history. For those reasons, Thomas is being made a 7-to-1 underdog by Las Vegas bookmakers."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/arch...ew-beat/59850841-39f2-4dc5-8de9-c93755f8fce2/

But, why should we take some journalist's word for it? We can see for ourselves Thomas' condition in those days. Two stiff mummies flapping at each other feebly in the ring:

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And we can see Shannon Briggs' condition. This won't take long at all:

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Briggs would walk straight through that version of Thomas. In fact, I'll go one further - based on the footage, he'd smash Thomas and Hosea one after the other on the same night.

 

Briggs was ranked in 97 &98 he fought Lewis in98. He fought Vitali in2010!That's 12 years after he was relevant as a contender.
Thomas was ranked in
82
83
84
85
86
87
Briggs was a back number when he fought Vitali.
Thomas was a top ten ranked contender with only 1 loss on his record.
I don't know why you cannot accept this?
Perhaps you are like some other posters,you just cannot be wrong? No point in continuing with you.

 

You have made a compelling case that the era Thomas was fighting in, was trash.

LOOOOOOKKK ATTT THHEEE FOOOOTTTAGGGGEEE.

My

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tell me what the truth is. Thomas took seven rounds to deal with a guy that only beat 2 guys with winning records. THAT'S a world champion? Now, I'm not making the case that the guys Briggs beat were anything special, they weren't, but he absolutely demolished them like he should have.

 

Briggs was shot to pieces and fought Vitali with one arm due to an injury.

 

Briggs > that version of Thomas and he was injured in the fight itself. If poor performances after getting injured in a fight don't count, then Vitali is undefeated.

 

He was ranked 3-4 years before too. Remember he won that WBO strap

 

FAKE NEW ALERT FROM DINO. What is he on 5 falsehoods in this thread by now?. Vitali was the older man at age 39. Briggs was 38.

It was a ring beating, the former lineal champion did not win a round and suffered broken facial bones.

Sincerely your personal fact checker.