By Dave Lahr: If former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (51-5-1, 45 KO’s) wants to walk out of O2 Arena, in Hamburg, Germany with a win over World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (40-2, 38 KO’s) on October 16th, then Briggs needs to focus on landing his shots around the eyes of the 39-year-old Klitschko. As we’ve seen in some of his fights in the past, Klitschko tends to swell up and cut when hit around the eyes. In his fight with Lennox Lewis in 2003, Vitali was a bloody mess after only four rounds of the fight and looked like he had crawled out of a major car wreck by the time the referee stopped the fight in the 6th due to the massive cuts Klitschko had suffered around the eyes and his lip area.

Briggs might not be the same fighter he once was years ago, but then again neither is Klitschko. He’s lost a lot of hand speed and now looks like a plodding version of Andre Golota. But more importantly for Briggs, he has power that is still incredibly good. Indeed, I’d say that Briggs at least as hard Lewis ever did and that could be the key to victory for Briggs. All he needs to do is land a small number of really power shots around the eyes of Klitschko and wait for the blood to start flowing.

I think it might not take more than two or three rounds before Vitali is bleeding like a stuck pig. The thing is once Vitali is bleeding, he becomes less effective as he fights more conservatively to try and save himself from having the fight stopped on him. And Vitali’s cuts will likely get worse and worse the more than Briggs pounds on him with right hands and left hooks. We could see multiple cuts after a very shot while, causing Klitschko to look like Frankenstein’s monster. If I’m Briggs’ trainer, I’m going to tell him to keep punching away at Vitali’s eyes, because sooner or later he’s going to strike the red crude and get the blood flowing.

I still think Briggs can knock Vitali out with his power alone, but the cuts will make it much easier for Briggs and will ensure that he gets the win over the 6’7” Ukrainian. Vitali has lot so much hand speed and movement in the past year. Right now, he looks very beatable and telegraphs everything he throws. His right hands take forever to reach their targets because of his diminished hand speed and his left hands are more arm punches than anything. Klitschko’s jab is more of a pawing jab than one that’s snapped out with authority. Briggs needs to pressure Vitali and force him against the ropes where he won’t have room to hide his head like a giant bird. Briggs must tee off with right hand and left hooks and not respect Vitali. If he keeps his punches around the eye level of Klitschko, he should be able to cut him and then take him out.