I don't usually go for fantasy fights but this one popped into my head today. These guys are eerily similar aside from Corrie being left-handed. Big strong guys with fast hands, tremendous power, but low stamina. Chin is where we might see a difference. Vitali and Rahman both stopped Sanders on his feet, while Lewis really put the beatdown on Briggs - but had some scary moments of his own. I don't know enough about either fighter to know how much they've really been put down in their careers. Either way we would have up to 3 rounds of absolute mayhem in the ring. If both survived that it would probably be another 9 rounds of nothing. I think I've got Sanders on this one, what do you think?
sanders if hes prime. sanders was old in the rahman fight(36) and even at that, his stamina was not bad, he went guns blazin for the first couple of rounds and thats why he tired on the ropes later.
the strangest thing about corrie sanders was that he grossly neglected training throughout his career and--predictably--held onto his fierce power, but also--fairly unpredictably--maintained better hand and foot speed than his often horrid physique would predict...AND, this was the most ridiculous part, was usually able to keep his jab pumping pretty consistently as a weapon, not just a distraction, a deterrent or a set up for the straight left hand. sanders was never a world beater, but he always defied my criticisms and assumptions that each unlikely triumph was yet another fluke. that said, i think sanders' awkward southpaw stance and ability to fire pure knockout power from weird angles both higher and lower than a hard punch ought to be able to originate from would spell disaster for briggs. briggs is tough and has defied his various medical issues and technical limitations to achieve a lot on heart, spirit and determination--and, of course, terrrific power, albeit from slow wind-ups. i give him a lot of credit for that. i figure briggs would get floored very early, getting caught cold, but shannon would get back in the saddle and make a show of it, probably rattling the sometimes-sturdy, sometimes-shaky beard of sanders more than once on his way to being tko'd in five or six. but, hey, that's just my opinion.
i've heard from sanders and from various people not affiliated with either camp that he came down with something three or four days before the fight, but, then again, you spend enough years talking boxing and you hear as many excuses for failures and underwhelming performances as you do promises of beatdowns to come that never come. b-hop is always going to knock someone out. holyfield is always going to be a world champion again. hatton will always have lost to mayweather because the ref wouldn't let him hold and hit...and on and on and on. you know? i guess it doesn't really matter if corrie was sick because he's not really much of a whiner or excuse factory...he just took the check and went out and fought and made a good showing. that's all i'm looking for out of a guy.
