By Dan Ambrose: #14 WBA heavyweight contender Shannon Briggs (56-6-1, 49 KOs), stopped a fighter named Cory Phelps (16-7-1, 8 KOs) in the 1st round last Saturday night at the Ring of Dreams Boxing Gym, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Briggs knocked out the balding 30-year-old Phelps with a right hand to the head to win the interim WBC Latino heavyweight title. In a little over a minute of action, Briggs knocked Phelps down three times in the round with head shots. After the 3rd knockdown the referee finally stopped the slaughter.
The fight could have been stopped after the first knockdown because Phelps was down on his side on the canvas and looking badly hurt. Instead the referee calmly waited until Phelps slowly picked himself up off the canvas before he let the fight continue.
On the first knockdown, Briggs dropped Phelps with a right-left combination to the head. After Phelps got back up, Briggs missed a wild right hand that barely missed Phelps’ head.
Phelps then scurried to the corner where Briggs then dropped him with a right hook to the head. When Phelps got back to his feet, Briggs missed three wild shots despite the fact that Phelps was standing directly in front of him.
Phelps then landed a three punch combination. Briggs responded with a right hand to the head that had Phelps covering up in the corner. Briggs followed up with two hard right hands to the midsection and then a right to the head that dropped Phelps for the third and final time in the round.
It was not a good performance from Briggs despite getting the win. He looked sloppy with horrible timing, and he looked totally reliant on his right hand to do all of his work. His left arm was basically useless in the fight for some reason. With the way Briggs looked in the fight, I don’t think he would beat even a fringe contender in the division. Phelps looked like he had no skills at all. What was shocking was how long it took for Briggs to knock the guy out. We’re talking about guy that you couldn’t even call a C level fighter, and yet Briggs was missing punches like a drunken sailor.
Briggs’ chances of getting a world title shot appear to be nonexistent unless one of the heavyweight champions picks him out as an opponent or if one of the sanctioning bodies makes him a mandatory challenger without Briggs having to fight an eliminator bout.
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