Shannon Briggs

Shannon Briggs
Statistics
Real name	Shannon Briggs
Nickname(s)	The Cannon
Rated at	Heavyweight
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Reach	80 in (203 cm)
Nationality	American
Born	December 4, 1971 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	67
Wins	59
Wins by KO	52
Losses	6
Draws	1
No contests	1
Medal record Men's boxing Representing  United States Pan American Games 1991 Havana Heavyweight

Shannon Briggs (born December 4, 1971) is an American professional boxer. He is a former lineal and WBO world heavyweight champion. Nicknamed "The Cannon", Briggs currently holds the record for most first-round knockouts at 36. He has also had a minor acting career, appearing in the 2003 film Bad Boys II.

Early life

Born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, Briggs was homeless for a period in his childhood. At age 17, Briggs began training at Jimmy O'Pharrow's Starrett City Boxing Club in Brooklyn, NY. He was diagnosed with asthma as a child, which made his mother skeptical of him having any success in boxing. Shannon vowed to knockout all of his opponents in the first round so his mother wouldn't have to worry about his breathing condition. He attributes the promise he made to his mother as the motivation behind him becoming the record holder for "most first round knockouts" in boxing history. Shannon's mother died due to a heroin overdose on December 4, 1986, Shannon's birthday in Brownsville, Brooklyn, NY.^[1]

Amateur career

Briggs became New York City Golden Gloves champion, New York State Champion, National P.A.L. Champion and finished second place as a Heavyweight at the Panamerican Games in 1991, losing the final to Félix Savón. In 1992 he became the United States Amateur Champion.

Professional career

Briggs began his career in 1992 and was undefeated in his first 25 fights, and was trained by Teddy Atlas. He suffered his first loss when he was knocked out in three rounds by undefeated Darroll Wilson in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1996. The fight was broadcast on HBO and was a showcase of young heavyweight fighters.

Lineal Championship vs Foreman

Coming into the fight, Briggs sported a 29–1 record with; 24 of his wins came by way of knockout after fighting a total of 86 rounds. However, despite his impressive record, his one loss had been a third round knockout against Darroll "Doin' Damage" Wilson on HBO the previous year which halted his momentum and hurt his status as one of the premier up-and-coming heavyweights.^[2] However, realizing that a win over Foreman would get him back into contention, Briggs vowed to be ready for the fight stating that he was "confident that I can go in and fight for 12 rounds and win a decision."^[3]

After capturing the WBA and IBF titles from Michael Moorer late in 1994, George Foreman forfeited both titles but retained the Lineal championship and successfully defended that crown (as well as the lowly regarded WBU heavyweight title) against then-undefeated prospects Crawford Grimsley and Lou Savarese. Following his win over Savarese, Foreman was given the opportunity to face Lennox Lewis for Lewis' WBC heavyweight title, with Foreman first having to win a "eliminator" bout against a contender. The WBC supplied Foreman with a list of acceptable opponents, including future heavyweight champions Chris Byrd and Hasim Rahman and the recently returned former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion James "Buster" Douglas, though Foreman ultimately picked Briggs.

The Fight

The fight was a controversial one as Briggs ultimately picked up the victory by way of majority decision. Through the course of the fight, Foreman landed more punches and had a higher percentage of his punches land than Briggs. Foreman landed 284 of his 488 punches for a 58% success rate while Briggs only landed 45% of his punches, going 223 for 488.

Foreman spent much of the fight as the aggressor while Briggs spent a lot of the fight retreating. In the later rounds Foreman's power punches seemed to take a toll on the younger Briggs, as he began slowing down and all but abandoned his tactic of moving away from Foreman and was hit from some heavy shots as a result. In the 12th and final round, Foreman tried hard for a knockout victory and was able to break Briggs' nose but was unable to score a knockdown. As a result, the result went to the judge's scorecards.

One judge scored the fight a draw at 114–114 while the other two had the fight scored 116–112 and 117–113 in favor of Briggs, giving him both the majority decision win and the Lineal heavyweight title.^[4]

Title Bout vs Lennox Lewis - "March Badness"

After Lennox Lewis successfully defended his WBC title in a dominating first round knockout victory over Andrew Golota, he agreed to defend his title against the winner between Briggs-Foreman in the elimination bout organized by the WBC to determine who would become Lewis' next opponent. Though Foreman's promoters protested the result and Lewis instead turned his attention to a potential unification match with Evander Holyfield, Lewis ultimately agreed to defend his WBC championship against Briggs in a fight billed as "March Badness".^[5][6]

The Fight

With only 30 seconds left in the first round, Briggs was able to land a short left hand that staggered Lewis. Briggs then began a furious 20-second rally that saw him land several power punches in an attempt to gain the knockout victory. Briggs concluded his assault with a right hook that sent Lewis stumbling into the corner with 15 seconds left, Briggs quickly attempted to continue his attack with Lewis in the corner, but Lewis was able to get a hold of Briggs and clinched him until the round ended. Lewis rebounded in round two and much like in the previous round, used his left jab to keep Briggs at bay. However, as the second minute of the round came to a close, Briggs landed a powerful left hook that staggered Lewis, but Lewis was able to withstand Briggs' follow-up combination and ended the round strongly by landing two combinations within the round's last 10 seconds.

Lewis began the fourth round aggressively and landed a combination that sent Briggs into the ropes. Briggs attempted to backpedal away, but Lewis landed a right hand that stunned Briggs. After continuing his assault on Briggs, Lewis was finally to gain a knockdown after a right hook dropped Briggs to the canvas 43 seconds into the round. After being dominated by Lewis for the entire round, Briggs was able to land some offense and hit Lewis with a strong left hand with 42 seconds left in the round. Lewis avoided Briggs' follow-up punches and countered with a left hook and a three-punch combination that again sent Briggs down to mat. Briggs was able to answer the referee's count at eight and survived the remainder of the round.

In the fifth round, Lewis knocked Briggs down for the third time with a powerful right hook at 1:09 into the round. Briggs laid flat on his back for five second but got back up at the count of eight and continued with the fight. After Briggs collapsed to the mat following a missed left hook, referee Frank Cappuccino stopped the fight and awarded Lewis the victory by technical knockout.^[7]

1998-2006

Since the loss to Lennox Lewis, Briggs spent seven years fighting in the Americas against low ranked opponents. He went 17 wins, all by way of knockout, 2 losses, 1 by majority and 1 by unanimous decision and a majority draw versus Frans Botha in 1998. Notable wins were against Ray Mercer, Brian Scott, Luciano Zolyone, Dicky Ryan & Chris Koval.

2006-2010

WBO title vs Liakhovich

Shannon won the WBO heavyweight title when he knocked out Sergei Liakhovich in the last round of a November 4, 2006, matchup. After a lackluster 11 rounds which left the Arizona crowd restless, Briggs was losing on all three judges' scorecards (106-103 twice & 105-104). Sensing urgency, Briggs pressed the fight in the 12th round and knocked Liakhovich down. Briggs subsequently trapped him on the ropes and continued his assault, knocking Liakhovich out of the ring. Liakhovich landed on a ringside table, and the referee stopped the bout. If the referee had allowed the fight to continue after the second knockdown and Liakhovich had come back into the ring within 20 seconds, he would have kept his title with a draw.The official time was 2:59.

Defense vs Ibragimov

In his first title defense Shannon Briggs was to face Sultan Ibragimov on March 10, 2007; however, Briggs pulled out of the fight because he was diagnosed with "aspirational pneumonia." The fight was rescheduled fifty days later in Atlantic City on June 2, 2007, with a sluggish Briggs losing in a unanimous decision.

Bout vs Vitali Klitschko

On October 16, 2010 Briggs fought in a WBC title challenge against Vitali Klitschko in the O₂ World at Hamburg. His entrance music for the fight was performed by DJ Structure the Spin Dr.^[8][9] During the fight Briggs took a severe beating and, after the fight, went down in his quarters. Brought to a hospital Briggs was initially treated in intensive care and found to have suffered a left orbital fracture, a broken nose, and a torn left bicep.^[10] In addition, he had another facial fracture above the right eye and a burst ear drum.

Briggs was promoted by Don King Productions and is self managed.

2014 Comeback

After a gap of more than three years, Briggs fought six bouts in 2014 and a further two in 2015. He won all eight, seven by knockout, earning the NABA Heavyweight title in the process.

Pursue of Big Fight

In March 2014, Briggs made a trip to England because in his view it gave him the best chance of securing a big fight in the near future. In his hope of getting one, Briggs had been stalking David Haye since he arrived in the country and was finally able to confront him at Haye's press conference for the announcement of his fight against little-known Arnold Gjergjaj at the O2 Arena on 21 May 2016. Haye did not agree to fight Briggs straight away but instead offered him the chance to fight on his undercard, promising that he would fight him next if he was victorious, a request which Briggs agreed to.

Briggs vs. Dimitrenko

On May 3, it was finally announced that Briggs would fight 6’7-inch giant and former European Heavyweight Champion, Alexander Dimitrenko (38-2, 27 KOs). The 33 year old German based Ukrainian has both height and youth on his side. Undefeated in his last six bouts – his most recent victory came in January against Bosnian Drazan Janjanin. Tipped as a future world champion, his only losses came to Eddie Chambers and Kubrat Pulev. Briggs commented on this fight, “I’m excited to put on a show for all my fans in the UK. It will be my first time fighting in this great country and the fans really embraced me when I was here earlier this month. This fight is just the warm up. I’ll finish Dimitrenko and I’ll celebrate, but then I’ll be back to finish the Hayemaker! He won’t be able to duck me any longer. Let’s go champ!”^[11]

K-1 Career

Briggs competed briefly for the K-1 kickboxing promotion in 2004. In his lone kickboxing match, he knocked out Tom Erikson, a mixed martial artist with a background in collegiate wrestling, just over a minute into round one at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Saitama in Saitama, Japan on March 27, 2004.

Outside the ring

Briggs is also an actor. He made his television acting debut on New York Undercover in 1995 and has since appeared in feature films Bad Boys II, with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, Transporter 2, and The Wackness.

Briggs also made an appearance on the Fugees' breakthrough album, The Score. He appears in the music video for rapper Thirstin Howl III's song "Surrounded By Criminals" (from his 2011 album Natural Born Skiller).

Shannon Briggs was summoned to US Federal Court District South Carolina on June 7, 2012, according to court documents Kali Bowyer, Briggs' ex-publicist was awarded over $420,000.00 plus interest for her services.^[12]

Championships and awards

Boxing

• International Boxing Union
  • IBU World Heavyweight (+91 kg/200 lb) Championship
• New York Golden Gloves
  • New York Golden Gloves Heavyweight (+75 kg/175 lb) Championship
• North American Boxing Association
  • NABA Heavyweight (+91 kg/200 lb) Championship
• North American Boxing Organization
  • NABO Heavyweight (+91 kg/200 lb) Championship
• Pan American Games
  • 1991 Pan American Games Heavyweight (-91 kg/200 lb) Boxing Silver Medalist
• United States Boxing Association
  • USBA Heavyweight (+91 kg/200 lb) Championship
• United States national amateur boxing championships
  • United States Amateur Heavyweight (-91 kg/200 lb) Championship
• World Boxing Council
  • WBC Fecarbox Heavyweight (+91 kg/200 lb) Championship
  • WBC Latino Heavyweight (+91 kg/200 lb) Championship
• World Boxing Organization
  • WBO World Heavyweight (+91 kg/200 lb) Championship

Professional boxing record

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record
1 win (1 KOs), 0 losses, 0 draws Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time Record 2004-03-27 Win Tom Erikson K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Saitama Saitama, Japan KO (right cross) 1 1:03 1-0 Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

Filmography

Film credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	Bad Boys II	Haitian Gang
2005	Transporter 2	Max
2007	Three Days to Vegas	Security Guard
2008	The Wackness	Bodyguard #1

Television appearances

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Naked Sport	Himself	Documentary, EP Welcome to the Sewer
1995	New York Undercover	Ralphie	EP Knock You Out
2003	Trina: The Making of a Diamond Princess	Himself	Documentary
2006	Quite Frankly with Stephen A. Smith	Himself	Guest on Talk Show

^[14]

External links

• Official website
• Professional boxing record for Shannon Briggs from BoxRec
• Shannon Briggs at the Internet Movie Database
• K-1 Sport profile

References

1. http://www.vladtv.com/article/211422/shannon-briggs-mom-invested-her-last-dollar-to-make-me-a-champ
2. Briggs's Career Hits a Detour, N.Y. Times article, 1996-03-17, Retrieved on 2013-10-22
3. Foreman Blocks the Way as Briggs Moves Up, N.Y. Times article, 1997-11-19, Retrieved on 2013-10-22
4. Briggs Wins, Crowd Boos and Foreman Says He Likely Won't Fight Again, N.Y. Times article, 1997-11-23, Retrieved on 2013-10-22
5. Foreman Decision Is Protested, N.Y. Times article, 1997-12–03, Retrieved on 2013-06-10
6. Lewis Agrees To Fight Briggs, N.Y. Times article, 1998-01–07, Retrieved on 2013-06-10
7. Lewis Gets No Glory Points In Knocking Out Briggs, N.Y. Times article, 1998-03–29, Retrieved on 2013-06-10
8. Thomas Dierenga (October 14, 2010). "Briggs Vitali steals the show again". Bild.de. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
9. "SHANNON BRIGGS – ENTERTAINER UND HERAUSFORDERER: WERDE DEN OKTOPUS KLITSCHKO IN MEINEM NETZ FANGEN". RTL. October 14, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2012.
10. Karpeles R. (October 17, 2010). "Shannon Briggs in Hospital after Vitali Klitschko Fight". Retrieved October 17, 2010.
11. "Shannon Briggs' opponent confirmed for David Haye undercard -". www.boxingnewsonline.net. 2016-05-03. Retrieved 2016-05-04.
12. SHANNON 'THE CANNON' BRIGGS K.O.'d In $420K Legal Bout
14. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1511647/