Shannon Briggs Interview: "Lewis was a clubbing puncher"!

Foreman was almost 50 when he fought Briggs, wasn't he?

47? 48?

I always thought of Briggs as one of the more obvious steroid users.

That kind of dense muscle... Yeah.

 

I don't know about that interview, but I do remember one Briggs gave about three years back.

He said the main difference was that he felt Foreman hit harder, but Lewis put his punches together better. Getting hit by Lewis was painful but "when George hit you, you saw God."

Calling Lewis a clubbing puncher is off, though. Guys like Peter or Lionel Butler are much more archetypal clubbers.

 

Maybe Briggs just has a different opinion of what a clubbing hit feels like.

 

Classic example of "Fighter A who knocked me silly, didn't hit half as hard as fighter B who i beat!".

 

u got a link please

 

Foreman was almost 50.

Obviously not half as accurate or active as Lennox was that night.

 

Always denigrate and make second best the guy who actually put you on the deck, and rate highest the guy who couldnt deck you. This is a fairly common thing a fighter often does to elevate himself and his own chin as higher than it deserves. It's also quite dishonest as well. Obviously Lewis was the harder, more effective puncher against Briggs. Lewis must have given him some stupid pills before putting his lights out when they fought. Lennox really clocked him, particularly that big, looping overhand right that bounced Briggs onto the canvas like he was shot.

 

:good

 

I dont think fighters necessarily make these comments to denigrate the fighter that KO'd them and elevate themselves by elevating the fighter that couldn't KO them, the one they beat.

I think it's just that often it's the punches you take and stay upright that you FEEL and CONTEMPLATE more than the ones that knocked you down. You feel more rattled when your head is humming and the guy is infront of you, and you're consciously trying to hide how hurt you are, with a foggy head, that's when you really start to "wonder" at the power of an opponent.
Getting decked or dumped by a barrage of shots is a different sort of ordeal, and you're often more concerned with fighting back or losing the fight.

It's the punches that no one else knows how much they hurt, they are the ones you are more aware of.

 

Briggs was very confident coming into the fight with Foreman, got his nose broken with a jab and was buzzed for the whole round, then proceeded to fight very cautiously for the rest of the fight. That's a big reason why he didnt get banjoed like 'vs' Lewis. Briggs/ Lewis was basically a gunfight.. hence he was hit more cleanly and knocked down.

When youre in the ring though its a very different experience; Foremans whole physical prescence was greater. Even at his advanced age I have no trouble believing George was a much stronger man than Lennox was. He was also a lot heavier at the time. These things make a difference to the opponents perception of what he's in there against.

However I do think by the 1990's Lewis was a more consistently powerful puncher than Foreman.

 

Very well said.

 

If someone fights two big punchers and is only KO'd by one of them he will ALWAYS say the fighter that didn't KO him is the harder punchers. Williams Joppy said that Jermain Taylor hit harder then Tito. And it's happened many other times.

I guess they think if they said that the guy that didn't KO him hit harder it makes them look better.