Undoubtedly Shannon has impressed us all with his physique he has for sure taken this fight seriously as many contenders have been lack luster lately Peter recently was in shape and look how much good that did him Briggs may look great but ripped doesnt equate to endurance remember how many people Ali fooled at the weigh in for Holmes how he got in terrific shape but the substance wasnt there Briggs I feel being lighter and smaller will now be easier to man handle and Vitali will have no trouble pushing him around and will still get him to tire This fight can go two ways in my book 1 a clear cut bell to bell domination by Vitali 2 resembles the Lewis fight an in shape (or atleast more in shape looking) Briggs manages to catch Vitali hurt him but not have the ability to finish by round 2 or 3 he gasses after getting over aggressive and it becomes a matter of when Vitali decides to put the foot on the gas
I very much agree with your second option. I feel that Briggs will come in with a great deal of confidence seeing himself look and feel better than he has for years may have some early success that Vitali will ride out and then I see this over in four, the first two of which will be very exciting, the second two a beating for Shannon. Saying that, I'd love to be proven wrong. I'll be happy to see the best man win.
Even at his best conditioning, Briggs was never going to out work or outhustle Vitali. Briggs is a KO artist. He's not going to magically become a record breaking volume puncher over just one training camp. Being in better shape, just gives him more chances to go for the kill, and Maybe enhance his speed a bit for the giant Cannon counter.
Doesn't every fighter say they are going to attack? Then they get hit, and re-evaluate in the ring. who cares what Briggs says. Its BS. Look--Briggs might take a chance or two early, but he's not fleet a foot enough to catch up to Vitali, who will be boxing circling, jabbing, and landing a hard right if Briggs tires something desperate. Even at age 39 Vitali is hard to hit. An under rated skill that he never gets credit for. By round 5 it will be over for Briggs minus a hail Mary shot, and even then Vitali has a great chin, and fights smart.
It is true that all promise to attack. Then they grow old over night. Mind you, Briggs is already old.
It's true they do. Samuel Peter in his fight with Wlad and Vitali before that was the same, stopped throwing after a couple of rounds after taking enough leather to discourage him. Still, I do think that Shannon has the balls to go all out and 'swing for the fences early' but I expect Vitali to deal with it comfortably then come back strong as Shannon tires about rounds three to four and take him out fairly quickly afterwards.
