Shannon Briggs was famous for his heavyweight fire fights, winning 53 fights by knockout and being stopped just twice himself, once by Lennox Lewis.
Briggs secured his shot at Lewis with a controversial win over George Foreman – a twelve round points decision which most felt Foreman deserved after out-landing and tiring the younger man. ‘Big’ George retired and Briggs moved on to Lewis.
The pair of heavy hitters fought in 1998 for ‘The Lion’s WBC World Title. They exchanged from the off, with the champion having to show all of his grit to survive an onslaught in the closing seconds of the first round after being rocked.
Briggs’ power would remain a threat throughout the rest of the five rounds before multiple knockdowns and exhaustion caught up with him.
Speaking to the Ring Magazine, ‘The Cannon’ reflected on the power punchers he faced and ultimately landed on Lewis as the strongest of the bunch.
“I fought some punchers! So many vicious punchers that make you say, ‘Wow!’ Ibragimov, little guy but hit pretty hard, he could knock any man out. Botha was a very hard puncher. Ray Mercer hit hard and Vitali Klitschko – let’s not forget Klitschko. He hit me one time so hard I didn’t know where I was at.
“I would say Lennox Lewis – that right hand would kill anybody.”
Despite not even mentioning ‘Big’ George when talking about power, he did say the man from Marshall, Texas, had the best jab and footwork. He has also praised his thudding shots in other interviews.
Ultimately, it was Lewis who Briggs classed as the overall best he stepped through the ropes with, branding him ‘one of the greatest ever’ – a sentiment Foreman shares.
