By David Selwyn

 

Shannon Briggs is fighting again March 3 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden against an unnamed opponent.  Shannon brings his very impressive 40-4-1 with 34 knockouts record back into the heavyweight picture.  Shannon did beat George Foreman in 1997.  He says he is ready mentally and physically to be back on top again.

 

David Selwyn: What’s new in the world of Shannon Briggs?

 

Shannon Briggs: I'm back.  I feel good about that.  I feel good about boxing and I'm very passionate about it.  I'm looking forward to getting back in the ring and reclaiming the Heavyweight Championship of the world, which is something that a lot of people don't realize or seem to want to recognize that I am the former heavyweight champ of the world.  I feel that Lennox Lewis retired with the title.  He did not really lose it to Klitschko.  I'm ready to get back in there and do what I got to do to win the title back.

 

David Selwyn : What’s your opinion of the Heavyweight picture today?  Would you say that none of them are real champions?

 

Shannon Briggs. : I would not say that they are not real champions.  When I fought Lennox Lewis I did not consider him the champion before he beat me.  He may have had the belts, but when I beat Foreman I became the linear champion of the world.  We all know that the linear champion is the man who beat the man who beat the man.  I was recognized by the elders of boxing.  They told me that they don't recognize belts.  If you look at boxing now there are like 15 different belts.  There is the IBF, WBC, etc, we can't even keep count anymore.  Who is to say because the guy fights for your belt he is the champion.  It should remain to be the way it was from the beginning, the man who beat the man who beat the man.  Sullivan, Corbett, Jack Johnson and so on.  There are some great fighters out there.  Don't get me wrong.  Some people say that heavyweight division is dead and I feel that this is not true.  I think Klitschko is a very talented fighter.  He is beatable.  I think Chris Byrd is very, very talented heavyweight champion.  Even John Ruiz is a tough guy.  He has shown his toughness.  He has the ability to train hard and do what he has to do.  He is a rough and tough fighter who beat Rahman.  These heavyweights today are tough guys.  Even look at a guy like Lamon Brewster, he went through hell to beat Vladimir Klitschko and came back and won that fight.

 

David Selwyn : Do you think Brewster really won that fight?  In my opinion Klitschko just ran out of gas.

 

Shannon Briggs. : Hey Dave, a win is a win.  They raised his hand to give him the belt.  You can say a guy lost a fight on a cut, but guess what, somebody cut him.  Brewster took the beating he had to take to become Heavyweight champ of the world.

 

David Selwyn : Your last big fight was with Jameel McCline in 2002.  You lost that fight.  What happened?

 

Shannon Briggs. : I lost to a guy that was better prepared than me that night.  Hats off to Jameel.  I came into the fight way over weight, something around 270 lbs.  He did what he had to do.  Now it’s a different story.  I’m back rededicated and refocused.

 

David Selwyn : What is your plan for your comeback?

 

Shannon Briggs. : I'm taking this fight March 3rd.  After that I want to stay busy and fight one to two times a month.  Stay busy as possible and get back in the public’s eye.

 

David Selwyn : When was the last time you were that busy as a fighter?

 

Shannon Briggs. : Forget about it.  You have to go way back to when I was a kid, 1992-1993.  It’s been so long and that’s what damaged my career Dave, it’s being inactive.  I've taken long rest periods between fights.  I took some time off the last two years to do some movies.  I appeared in Bad Boys II and Transporter II and just finished a film called The Retirement with Peter Falk and Rip Torn.  I've traveled over to Japan a few times and fought some K 1.  I took some time to step away from boxing and now the love came back.  I have not been in love with anything even women the way I'm in love with boxing now.

 

David Selwyn : What is most difficult and hardest part of being a boxer?  Is it the training, the actual fights or the business aspect of boxing?

 

Shannon Briggs. : I would say the business part is the most difficult part for me to handle. Boxers do not get pensions or healthcare  and they put their lifeline. It hurts because I see what happens to fighters. A lot of boxers end up poor and physically damaged from the sport.

 

David Selwyn : How do you get involved with boxing?

 

Shannon Briggs. : Well as a kid there was nothing much to do and it really helped me. Boxing is not funded             

too much by the government and I would really like to see that changed. Boxing not only saved my life but thousands of kids. Boxing got me out of Brownsville, Brooklyn N. Y. . I'm in Florida now in a $500,000 home and I feel boxing saved my life. My mom was a heroin addict and my step-dad who raised me died in prison. If it was not for boxing who knows where I would be today.

 

David Selwyn : What boxers did you admire and try to emulate when you first got into the sport?

 

Shannon Briggs. : I thought I was Muhammad Ali until I was twenty years old. I wanted to look like him, dress like him and talk like him. Growing up in the 1980's, people did not even know my real name. They called me Ali. I loved Ali and Ray Robinson. I liked the stylists, the boxers, I liked their footwork and hand speed. When I started fighting professionally I did not train like that. I was told when I became a pro that I had to get a pro style and I think that kind of hurt me a lot . Now I'm looking to do more things like when I was a kid and that is to do more boxing.

 

David Selwyn : What do you feel is your greatest accomplishment in boxing?

 

Shannon Briggs. : I feel I never really fully displayed my talent and the one fight that I had with George Foreman, I was able to display my boxing skills. He was a tough guy. Anybody else that night I would have knocked out.

 

David Selwyn : Well, I feel that’s a great accomplishment. You beat one of the greatest fighters of all time. One of only five guys to do that. It puts you in elite company. You can say that you have something in common with your  hero Muhammad Ali.

 

Shannon Briggs. : I appreciate that sir. I love boxing and I love speaking to guys like yourself. Boxing guys who don't try to tear the sport down. Guys who have an understanding of the sport. You talk to a lot of writers and it seems like they only come into the sport to destroy it and tear it down.

 

David Selwyn: Is there one moment or one win that you left with a natural high and were excited at that moment?

 

Shannon Briggs. : Unfortunately Dave, I  never got to enjoy my career. I t was a fast rise to the top and I was very unhappy with a lot of things . Financially, it was rough for me . I lived good, but at the end of the day I owed a lot of people. Now I'm older and more mature and wiser and I learned to watch my money and watch who I associate with. I feel good about that.

 

David Selwyn : Did you ever walk into the ring and say to yourself  “I'm not prepared. I m not ready for this”?

 

Shannon Briggs. : More than half of my fights. (Laughs)

 

David Selwyn : Wow! Was that just nerves?

 

Shannon Briggs. : It was the fact that I knew that I hadn't properly prepared for the fight and a little bit of self-doubt. Now, I'm older and have a different mentality. I really appreciate the opportunities more

 

David Selwyn : Have you ever had an opponent that you truly disliked and wanted to give him a beating?

 

Shannon Briggs. : No, not really. I never took anything personal .  It’s business . There is a couple of guys now (laughs) that I want to beat on.

 

David Selwyn : Can you say who?

 

Shannon Briggs. : I don't want to give them anymore publicity. This is my time to come back. I have the experience.  I fought the champions. I'm still young and I'm in shape. I just want to say that I'm back in boxing for the people. I love the fans and I love the sport of boxing. I'm a boxing fan.

 

 In part II Shannon will discuss why he feels that boxing is a dying sport and his plan to save it. He will also talk about his “ fight of his life”, when half of the University of Miami football tried to kill him”

 

Any questions or feedback for Shannon or David Selwyn, please write to Boxingkid @ aol.com