Shannon Briggs speaks about injuries, used as example of lackluster heavyweight division
Following his totally lopsided defeat Saturday to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs has issued a formal statement assuring his well-being.
The former heavyweight titlist was hospitalized in Hamburg at the conclusion of the 12 round bout with Klitschko. Though Briggs took a severe beating for most of the fight, he was not knocked down. After the official decision, German press criticized the
referee and Brigg’s corner for failing to stop the fight.
In a statement, Briggs said: “Thank you all for your concern. Your outpouring of support has helped maintain my spirits through this disappointing period. I want to let you all know that I came to the hospital Saturday night strictly as a precautionary measure,
and after several tests the doctors concluded there were no severe head injuries. However, I am still undergoing tests to determine what kind of surgery I will need on my left bicep because of an injury I suffered in the first round of the fight.”
Briggs continued: “Unfortunately, the injury kept me from fully executing my fight plan. Not to take anything away from the brilliant performance by Vitali Klitschko on Saturday night, but had I not injured my arm so early on, who knows how the fight would
have concluded?”
Briggs went on to thank those in his corner and those who believed in him. Not everyone, however, was so kind. ARENA Promotions CEO Ahmet Öner used Briggs’s performance to talk about some of the problems of the heavyweight division in boxing, saying that
he can’t blame anybody for failing to appreciate heavyweights today as the competition is so incredibly low.
"It is a shame that nobody in the USA cares for heavyweight boxing anymore but after seeing this fight I cannot blame anybody for disinterest", Öner said after watching the fight online. "Shannon Briggs didn’t stand a chance against Lennox Lewis 12 years
ago when he was still young and in shape. How could anybody assume he would be a worthy challenger for Vitali Klitschko? You cannot even call this one-sided execution a "fight". Shows like this are bad for boxing – even though 14 million Germans watched it
live. It’s a pity that those 14 million don’t get to see real boxing but have to witness a guy thrashing another guy who is not close to qualified for a championship bout."
Öner’s comments mirror those of several insiders, who argue that the heavyweight division has experienced a deep low-point in the last decade. While there are a variety of reasons for the opinion, most agree that a declining interest in boxing in the American
market as well as a tremendous increase in the popularity of other sports has affected the division.
Others still point to the dominance of the Klitschkos as essentially bad for the division, or the increasing trend of champions to avoid meaningful fights. Whereas in the old days of the sport the best simply faced the best, today such a possibility has
been totally annihilated due to complicated contractual disputes and fighter selfishness. There are a host of other reasons for a lackluster heavyweight division, such as in-house fighting and a declined interest by big broadcasting companies.
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