By Eric Thomas: Former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (51-6-1, 45 KO’s) is reportedly about to resume his boxing career after sitting idle since his lopsided 12 round unanimous decision to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko last October. Briggs, 39, tore his left bicep, and suffered a fractured left orbital bone and broken nose in that fight. The bicep required surgery to repair the problem.

Briggs ended up taking a great deal of punishment in the fight, but had a few brief moments when he was able to land his right hand. It’s hard to say how the fight would have gone had Briggs not been injured. Going into that fight Briggs had scored three consecutive 1st round knockouts against 2nd tier opposition. Unfortunately, any hopes of Briggs winning went down the drain early in the 2nd when he hurt his left arm.

Briggs will need at least two or three tune-up bouts to get back in the thick of things. However, he can’t afford to waste too much time due to his advanced age. Briggs needs to make a move on the title and ideally knock off one or two of the top contenders in the heavyweight division to assure himself another world title shots. He’s not likely to get one of the Klitschkos or the winner of the Alexander Povetkin vs. Ruslan Chagaev fight to give him a shot unless he beats someone to show that he’s a serious player. But a win over guys like Ray Austin, Alexander Ustinov, Tyson Fury, Audley Harrison, Kali Meehan, Jean Marc Mormeck, Chris Arreola, Alexander Dimitrenko should put Briggs where he needs to be to get another title shot.