Frank Bruno vs. Shannon Briggs

Frank's biggest problem is fading late in fights. Luckily for him, the fight doesn't go late. Bruno KOs Briggs in 5 or less.

 

Briggs and Bruno both had abysmal stamina. I think this would be a good fight for four or five rounds and then it would get boring and sloppy with one of the guys finally collapsing f rom exhaustion.

 

That would be a good fight. difficult to call as well. I give the edge to frank cause he could stick to a game plan, for a while anyway, Briggs seemed explosive but disorganised. Frank that fought Lennox would be ideal, the jab and overhand could be a problem for "let's go champ"

 

Its the type of matchup where if these guys fought 10 times they could split the series at five wins a piece. They were two huge punchers who could both be stopped at any given time. I'm not picking a favorite here.

 

I'm going to pick Briggs.

In the Lewis fight he took a hellacious beating and kept on coming, although his stamina is awful, I feel mentally, he might be a bit tougher than Frank. He also took some shots from Foreman and finished the fight on his feet and the Vitali too. Does Frank have it in him to stop Briggs? Because Briggs will go down swinging.

Bruno of the first Tyson fight vs Briggs of the Lewis fight would be explosive!

 

I hear what you're saying but Bruno actually gave Lewis a better fight than Briggs did and took a comparable beating while dishing out plenty himself.. Of course this was a pre-Stewar Lewis unlike the one who Shannon fought, but then again Frank was a little past his prime too so there's a trade off. Briggs performance against Foreman needs to be taken with a grain of salt.. George was getting dangerously close to 50 years of age and arguably deserved the win.. The Bruno who fought Tyson the first time was coming off a 16 month layoff so I'm not sure this was ideal either as Frank's actual prime was difficult to pin point. Shannon could certainly have won it, but I myself wouldn't put any money down on either.

 

With everything taken into account, what it boils down too is, Briggs when he gets hit, will fight back, if Bruno gets hit, its time to close up shop and lie on the ropes.

 

There is some truth to that but also oversimplified. Ever see Frank Bruno fight Floyd Cummings? Cummings was a limited fighter but one who hit like a truck. Frank was badly wobbled against him and had to be directed back to his corner at the end of the round.. He came back in the next round to stop Floyd. Against a prime Witherspoon he was ahead for most of the match and took a few good shots along the way, but got caught badly late.. He battled back and forth with Lewis before finally being stopped. Briggs at 25-0 was stopped by the obscure Darroll Wilson. Couldn't finish Frans Botha when he had him in trouble and had to settle for a draw. Lost to trial horse sederick Fields while being more or less in his prime.. There's no clad iron reason to be favoring Briggs with any real conviction.

 

You're right, maybe I'm writing off Bruno too quickly.

Ok, its a genuine 50/50.

If Bruno fought Foreman instead and Briggs fought Mcall, how do you think it would play out?

 

Yeah that's what I think too. Like I said, Briggs COULD win but its too hard to for me to draw any solid conclussions. Hard to say about Foreman. I really think he had lost a lot of snap to his shots by 1997 as he hadn't stopped anyone in a while. That and was slower than ever and pushing 50. He still might have caught frank with enough mus**** to stop him but I can't say that with any certainty. McCall vs Briggs? Under ordinary circumstances I'd pick McCall as I can't see shannon putting him away.. Nobody ever did.. But the one who fought Bruno no longer had Manny Steward in his corner and his career was starting to go downhill..

 

I couldn't pick a winner it's a 50/50 fight, Briggs is dangerous early, Bruno would take over with his heavy jab after a tough start and both could fade badly down the stretch due to stamina issues.

 

Briggs actually has a nice late knockout of the White Wolf going for him, so he didn't always fold late.


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I would be inclined to favour Briggs, for the reasons that others have given.

 

That is an interesting corollary. I think that Bruno would have legitimately (unlike Briggs) beaten that version of Foreman. George was too ponderous at that point. George may have caught Bruno, but, honestly George did not have much left anymore. Schultz, Saverese, and even the hapless Crawford Grimsley went the distance with Big George at that point. (The same Grimsley who was knocked out in 10 seconds by amateurish Jimmy Thunder in his next fight.)

As for Briggs vs McCall. That one is easier. Absent serious drug issues (admittedly a possibility with McCall), the Atomic bull would outlast and beat Briggs almost every time. (Probably by late stoppage). It is revisionist history to claim that Briggs has a great chin. Because, he doesn't. The fact that he lasted the distance with two big punchers (Foreman and Vitali) says more about them being at the end of their careers than it does about his chin. He generally got knocked down or out every time he faced a legitimately good puncher.