Better heavyweight: Cleveland Williams or Shannon Briggs?

Briggs. Better record and if they went H2H he'd stop Williams and his shaky jaw.

That said, if you asked me who the better technician and boxer was, then Williams by quite a bit.

It's a case of Briggs being a major chunk of beef and using his mass and power optimally.

 

Williams. He had better stamina, skill, power and athleticism. Williams was also a better combination puncher, possess an underrated chin and also had a terrific jab if he uses it more often. Tho Briggs is clearly has the better record, but he would undoubtedly lose in a fight. Williams is not as crude as how people mention him to be, even tho he's a slugger but he was more than capable of outpointing technical boxer if he couldn't knock them out out. He lost only a SD to Terrell and was said to be robbed against Machen. You throw those two guys up against Foreman and Lyle, Terrell and Machen would make them look like a fool.

 

Briggs.

I think the guy is looked at much much different if he gets Ruiz or Valuev in those title opportunities and not Lennox. He very well could have put together 3 or 4 title defenses against the opposition Ruiz and Valuev fought. He'd be looked at a lot different with better trainers and a strong promotional team behind him.

 

Terrell machen would make Foreman and Lyle look a fool? What? Foreman and Lyle (particularly George) would knock out Terrell and Machen in good fashion

 

They failed to do that against Jimmy Young. Your statement is simply stupid and has no facts or logic into it

 

Just because they lost to Jimmy young means they’d lose to Terrell and Machen? And I was the one being illogical… who the hell did Machen or Terrell ever beat that was on the level of George foreman? Ridiculous comment

 

Very good thread.

Two men who's records don't really back up the reputation they have.

Williams is seen as slightly lesser Liston. Briggs is seen as one of the biggest punchers in history.

Both only really have one victory of note.

Briggs lost early by stoppage, his excuse is an asthma attack. Williams lost early by stoppage, his excuse is he was an on the night replacement. Briggs then beat lower opposition and lost to Lewis. Williams then beat lower opposition and lost to Liston. Briggs then lost to McCline and Ibragimov, Williams then didn't lose until after he was shot, and he suddenly started to lose very regularly.

So I think Williams has a record that better stands up to scrutiny. And I think H2H it's a war between two relatively unproven fighters despite have over 160 fights between them lol.

I'm going with Williams here.

Good fun thread, but I fear by including Williams it will end up derailing, as almost every thread with him does.

 

After watching both Lyle's bouts with Young, I highly doubt he's beating Terrell, or especially Machen, let alone knocking them out. I agree Foreman would.

 

Very surprised that this is so close in the voting,for me Williams is by far the superior fighter

 

Other than the Liakhovich fight where he pulled a comeback KO out his ass after trailing badly and gassing, Briggs was not known for his stamina. Even in his prime he often needed to try and end things early or he'd be a sitting duck. A few things Briggs did well, especially as he got older, was to throw very powerful shots to the body to soften guys up and slow them down. He's quite underrated when it comes to body shots and stinging together decent combinations. He had one hell of a chin, but his crappy defense and stiff muscles kind of cancelled it out as he would often become a sitting duck, most notably in the horrific beating he took from Vitali.

Williams was a very talented specimen in his prime and could be very explosive. He could rapidly shift between going low to high from body to head almost like a 6'3 version of Tyson. He had quick feet and scary power when he let his hands go. A decent jab and decent fundamentals all around. His problem was being too brave and aggressive for his own good. He didn't make any adjustments at all after Liston best him the first time and willingly slugged it out for some bizarre reason. When he actually used his brain and boxed, he did well against good boxers such as Terrel and Machen. Sadly he was poorly managed and literally shot and never the same. We probably never got a chance to see what a finished product, full potential Williams looked like, but going off of what we saw at his best, he was roughly a lower B level slugger/boxer hybrid with good speed but leaky defense and lapses in judgement.

As for Briggs vs Williams, I think if Williams jumps on him immediately throwing the jab, using his feet, and digging to the body he would drag Briggs into deep waters and stop him late maybe around 9-10. However, if Briggs suckers Williams into simply slugging and goes to the body, Williams' speed advantage goes out the window and Briggs KOs him within 6-8 rounds. Either way, the fans probably get one hell of a fight while it lasts.

 

I feel dirty saying it. But for me it s Shannon the loose cannon.
He beat, well on the cards anyway, Foreman for the lineal.

 

Williams by far, particularly prior to his gunshot injuries that nearly ended his life and his career. He was never the same fighter afterwards.

 

Briggs. Im confident in that. Probably.