Shannon Briggs: career analysis

Redbeard7 · Nov 14, 2024

Cojimar 1946 said: ↑

Off the top of my head
Juan Carlos Gomez
Chris Arreola
Kevin Johnson
Samuel Peter
Tomasz Adamek
Derek Chisora
Corrie Sanders
Larry Donald

That's 8 guys. Given Briggs was old and past his prime I'd say there's a good chance that Hide and Bean were also better than the version Vitali faced
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This is also my view, outside Vitali's top 10. Briggs was a glorified punching bag in the Vitali fight and could have easily been stopped after 8 or 10 rounds. He posed very little threat, less than most of the fighters lifted above.

UnleashtheFURY · Nov 14, 2024

Redbeard7 said: ↑

1. Reached the final of the 1991 Pan American Games where he was KO'd in 1 by Savon, won the 1992 U.S. National Championships

2. Having compiled a record of 25-0 against journeymen, Briggs was KO'd in 3 in a "huge upset" by Darroll Wilson, who was in the midst of an eight fight streak where he went the distance with six journeymen, got KO'd in 1 by Tua and only KO'd Briggs

3. Won the lineal title in his 12 round debut against 48 year old final career fight Foreman by "robbery" MD12 ("Wald and Azoff say they have polled 100 boxing people, from writers to trainers, and have found nobody who thinks Briggs won.")

4. Started fast against WBC champion Lewis and hurt him but was ultimately KO'd in 5

5. Drew with Botha over 10 rounds, which Briggs admitted was a "fortunate" result ("I was fortunate to get a draw. He really gave me a beating, physically. And mentally I was really down on myself, because the fight was so hard, gruelling.")

6. Lost to 9-9 Sedrick Fields by MD8, in a fight Briggs admitted was "close" ("It was a close fight. Even though I thought I won.")

7. Came in at a then career heaviest of 268 lbs (having weighed 230 lbs 12 months prior) and lost 90-99 to McCline

8. Came from behind to win the WBO title by KO'ing Liakhovich in the dying seconds of the 12th round, returning to Ring's top 10 following a 7 year absence

9. Came in at an equal career heaviest of 273 lbs and lost 117-111 to Ibragimov, prompting a 2.5 year retirement

10. Somehow given a title shot against WBC champion Vitali, sustained a severe beating and lost 120-107, prompting his final retirement from serious boxing

Briggs has the most 1st round KO's among heavyweight champions with 37 (38 if the failed drug test NC isn't omitted from the record). He also holds the distinction of being the last American heavyweight titlist prior to Wilder, whose reign began 7.5 years later (by far the longest title drought in American heavyweight history).
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Pretty terrible honestly when put into context. Easily the most overrated and fortunate HW of all time. The gift against Foreman set him up for life and granted him with world title opportunities that he didn't deserve. He could punch and was dangerous early on. That's about all you can say about him that was positive.

UnleashtheFURY · Nov 14, 2024

HistoryZero26 said: ↑

Sanders and Peter have a case. The rest you're really stretching.
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Other than being caught cold early against Diaz, Juan Carlos Gomez had been pretty much flawless as a pro. Almost 10 title defenses at CW and unbeaten at HW other than the aforementioned slip up. Definitely a better defense than Briggs.

Redbeard7 · Nov 14, 2024

Briggs and Wilder have three mutual opponents:

Dominique Alexander (Briggs KO1, Wilder KO2)

Matthew Greer (Briggs KO1, Wilder KO2)

Siarhei Liakhovich (Briggs KO12, Wilder KO1)

Redbeard7 · Nov 14, 2024

UnleashtheFURY said: ↑

Pretty terrible honestly when put into context. Easily the most overrated and fortunate HW of all time. The gift against Foreman set him up for life and granted him with world title opportunities that he didn't deserve. He could punch and was dangerous early on. That's about all you can say about him that was positive.
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He does seem to be massively overrated in terms of ability:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/shannon-briggs-prime-vs-deontay-wilder-who-takes-it.591581/

3x as many votes for Briggs than Wilder. Imagine if Wilder had lost to Sedrick Fields, got smoked by Darroll Wilson, got schooled by McCline and was gifted a draw with Botha. Imagine if Wilder's best win was Liakhovich by the skin of his teeth.

Why is Briggs overrated? There are probably about six reasons (I've had a few drinks so I can't be bothered to articulate them rn) but it's all smoke and mirrors.

Bigcheese · Nov 14, 2024

Redbeard7 said: ↑

He splooged his gas tank in 2 rounds against Lewis. Good fight though.
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Well he was never going to win a decision against the vastly superior Lewis. At least he went for it and buzzed him a few times.

Cojimar 1946 · Nov 14, 2024

HistoryZero26 said: ↑

Sanders and Peter have a case. The rest you're really stretching.
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It was a very poor version of Briggs though. Almost 40 years old and years removed from his prime. We are not talking about the late 1990s version as that's not the version Vitali faced.

Pat M · Nov 15, 2024

Redbeard7 said: ↑

1. Reached the final of the 1991 Pan American Games where he was KO'd in 1 by Savon, won the 1992 U.S. National Championships

2. Having compiled a record of 25-0 against journeymen, Briggs was KO'd in 3 in a "huge upset" by Darroll Wilson, who was in the midst of an eight fight streak where he went the distance with six journeymen, got KO'd in 1 by Tua and only KO'd Briggs

3. Won the lineal title in his 12 round debut against 48 year old final career fight Foreman by "robbery" MD12 ("Wald and Azoff say they have polled 100 boxing people, from writers to trainers, and have found nobody who thinks Briggs won.")

4. Started fast against WBC champion Lewis and hurt him but was ultimately KO'd in 5

5. Drew with Botha over 10 rounds, which Briggs admitted was a "fortunate" result ("I was fortunate to get a draw. He really gave me a beating, physically. And mentally I was really down on myself, because the fight was so hard, gruelling.")

6. Lost to 9-9 Sedreck Fields by MD8, in a fight Briggs admitted was "close" ("It was a close fight. Even though I thought I won.")

7. Came in at a then career heaviest of 268 lbs (having weighed 230 lbs 12 months prior) and lost 90-99 to McCline

8. Came from behind to win the WBO title by KO'ing Liakhovich in the dying seconds of the 12th round, returning to Ring's top 10 following a 7 year absence

9. Came in at an equal career heaviest of 273 lbs and lost 117-111 to Ibragimov, prompting a 2.5 year retirement

10. Somehow given a title shot against WBC champion Vitali, sustained a severe beating and lost 120-107, prompting his final retirement from serious boxing

Briggs has the most 1st round KO's among heavyweight champions with 37 (38 if the failed drug test NC isn't omitted from the record), though "only" a 79% KO ratio. He also holds the distinction of being the last American heavyweight titlist prior to Wilder, whose reign began 7.5 years later (by far the longest title drought in American heavyweight history).
Click to expand...

Briggs, who had done nothing to deserve it, got the title shot with Foreman, while more deserving fighters did not. Briggs had the type of resume that the Foreman team was looking for in an opponent. Getting knocked out by Wilson showed Briggs could be hurt, and having asthma that limited his stamina "earned" Briggs the shot at GF. If Briggs had dominated/knocked out Wilson early, he would not have gotten the nice payday with GF.

Russell · Nov 15, 2024

His knockout record is almost as impressive as Don Steele's. Almost.

Pepsi Dioxide · Nov 15, 2024

Very dangerous guy in the first round or two, then he would start to unravel usually, mostly his stamina failing him (or asthma, whatever).

Thought he deserved a loss against Foreman, but Foreman had karma coming to him for his robbery win over Schulz and to a lesser extent Lou Savarese

Would of liked to have seen him against Tua, Ibeabuchi, Moorer, hell even Jimmy Thunder could of been fun but it wasn't meant to be.

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Shannon Briggs: career analysis

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Shannon Briggs: career analysis

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