It’s official. WBC champion Vitali Klitschko and Shannon Briggs have come to terms to hold their championship fight in Hamburg, Germany.
The 38-year-old Briggs (51-5-1, 45 KOs) is returning to the spotlight following a three-year rebuilding process after losing the WBO belt to Sultan Ibragimov. He’s fought four times since, scoring three first round knockouts and one No Contest.
Briggs also holds a distinction as being a linear heavyweight champion courtesy of his controversial points over George Foreman in the slugger’s last fight in 1997. Briggs would lose that accolade and his shot at the WBC title in his very next fight by suffering a TKO loss in a very entertaining slugfest with Lennox Lewis.
Klitschko, 39, will be making the sixth defense of his WBC title and fifth since returning to the ring in 2008 after a four-year absence due to injury. The imposing titlist is anxious to fight Briggs due to years of trash-talking from the Brooklyn heavyweight, and expects a formidable challenge as opposed to his last two fights against Kevin Johnson and Albert Sosnowski.
“Shannon Briggs is an unbelievable big mouth but also definitely a tough challenger,” Klitschko told Sky Sports. “He is one of the toughest punchers in the business. I am also delighted to box in Hamburg again. This is where it all started.”
The fight will take place on October 12.
Briggs’ last fight against Rob Calloway
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When this fight was first being talked about I groaned. But being optimistic it’s much better than Klitschko’s last two opponents and there isn’t much else to choose from in the Top 10. Take a look at these ranked contenders per RING magazine outside of the Klitschkos.
David Haye
Alexander Povetkin
Tomasz Adamek
Ruslan Chagaev
Eddie Chambers
Denis Boytstov
Nikolai Valuev
Alexander Dimitrenko
Chris Arreola
According to the Klitschkos four of these men (Haye, Povetkin, Adamek and Valuev) have turned down contract offers to fight. We know for a fact the contract squabbles with Haye and Valuev. Povetkin’s pulled out saying he isn’t ready, and Adamek appears to feel the same way being that he’s fighting a past-prime, former contender in Michael Grant this weekend.
Chagaev and Chambers have already been knocked out by Wladimir Klitschko. Vitali stopped Chris Arreola in September. German Boytstov and Ukranian Dimitrenko aren’t well-known outside their native lands and are still fighting lowly competition. But they may have no choice but to take a huge step up in class soon.
As for Klitschko-Briggs, I expect it to be relatively interesting for the first three or four rounds until Briggs gases. After that Vitali clubs him to death slowly with jabs and straight right hands for a KO around the ninth.
And maybe next year we’ll finally get some heavyweight fights the public actually wants to see in Haye and Adamek facing off against the Klitschkos.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 