He has quick hands but is very robotic and doesn't move around the ring very well. Still, I have been a fan of Briggs for a while and hope he wins.
Even though Vitali is slower and not getting any younger, he still is one of the most brilliant ring tacticians today. Since coming back, he was never hit clean often, never wobbled. Like old B-Hop, Vitali rely more on ring IQ, but without the headclashes, fake low blows, etc... The thing is, people say Vitali is slower and older but why isn't there any fighter who has exploited these weaknesses allready? If they think Vitali can be easily beaten because he isn't the same fighter, then they are wrong. Old K-Bro is going to outsmart them in the ring!!
I think his ring rust or deterioration is over exaggerated, and Vitali doesn't really rely on his speed and reflexes. More his timing and experience, which shows when he comes into different fights with having some thought out strategic gameplan to beat his opponents...
Well Johnson, Arreola, and Gomez had plenty of hand speed and reach too. They had trouble hitting Vitali. Vitali even made Kevin Johnson miss several time with his jab, and Johnson has a good one.
A video of vitali training for briggs, he ups the tempo at the end [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPBfsNHhss4[/ame]
I know wlad is much faster, Im just saying briggs isnt as slow as people want it to be. He is known to be explosive=power and speed. I know tommy brooks has said after training wlad that his handspeed was better than tyson.. If you watch wlads fight with mercer you can hear they mention that on hbo.
oh, I think Briggs is fast, at least with his fists. His problem is that he is stationary most of the time - his footwork sucks. I also think VK is a tad faster with hand too... anyway, looking forward to it. SHould be fan as long as it lasts.
Briggs should really be thinking of using his speed and power to get the body early and often. This will be a long fight and he should try to make the later rounds (well, 5 onwards) easier for himself.