Shannon Briggs stops Matthew Greer in 23 seconds

By Boxing News - 05/18/2014 - Comments

By Allan Fox: 42-year-old former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (54-6-1, 48 KO’s) needed just 23 seconds to dispatch journeyman Matthew Greer (16-13, 13 KO’s) in the 1st round on Saturday night at the Mountaineer Casino Racetrack and Resort, in Chester, West Virginia, USA. Briggs landed three straight clubbing right hands to the head that put the 37-year-old Greer on the canvas to get the stoppage.

Unlike in his previous two fights in his comeback, Briggs didn’t bother throwing body shots or left hands. It was nothing but right hands from Briggs. Briggs has a very good left hook he likes to use, but for some reason he chose not to use that weapon for this fight.

The victory is Briggs’ third since last month, and he’s looking very good. However, Briggs is going to need to step it up in a major way if he wants to get a title shot in the future, because he’s probably not going to become a mandatory challenger by fighting journeyman. In Briggs’ last two title shots, he fought weak opposition and was able to still get a fight for the world titles, but he was a little younger then.

IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko likely won’t choose to fight Briggs due to Briggs’ advanced age and the negative feedback he’d get if he selected him as an opponent for an optional title defense. Pretty much the only way that Briggs gets a title shot is to either become the mandatory challenger to one of Wladimir’s titles, which will be very difficult for Briggs to do because it would require him to beat a top contender to get that position, or he can go after the WBC heavyweight champion.

Currently, Bermane Stiverne is the WBC title holder, but he’s not likely to keep the title for long. But the WBC title belt is probably the best way for Briggs to do because it’s possible that Stiverne or Deontay Wilder, if he beats Stiverne, will give Briggs an optional title defense if he keeps winning and gets ranked in the top 15 by the World Boxing Council.



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