By Jim Dower: Former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (51-6-1, 45 KO’s) refuses to retire after taking a savage beating for 12 rounds and losing to World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (41-2, 38 KO’s) last Saturday night. The beating left the 38-year-old Briggs with a broken nose, torn left biceps and fractures of both cheeks. Although never competitive for an instant, Briggs vows to continue fighting for some reason only he knows.

In an article at Sky Sports News, Briggs said “Last Saturday was the toughest night of my life, but I would do it all over again. I showed the world that I can fight. I have showed I am a champion, even though I lost. I may be ugly, but I am fine. I am the boss, so I made it clear throwing in the towel was not an option. I take the decisions and I am not a quitter. I will be back. I love to box and I would fight tonight if I could.”

I have feeling that Briggs’ fights will continue to be harder and harder if he decides to take on more top level fighters like the Klitschkos. Briggs might have had an idea of what was in store for him last Saturday night had he taken on a 1st tier fighter in the last three years. Briggs has faced nothing but 2nd tier opposition since losing to Sultan Ibragimov in 2007. Briggs went from taking on light opposition to facing the very best, and he clearly wasn’t ready for it. The way he looked against Klitschko, it’s doubtful that Briggs would have done well against any of the top tier fighters.

Briggs will obviously do well if he goes back to fighting lower ranked opponents, but he’s probably not going to get another chance at a title anytime soon. The beating he took was so one-sided, I can’t see Briggs getting another shot at a title unless he proves himself worthy by beating some top level fighters next time. There really needs to be some kind of regulations in boxing to prevent fighters from getting title shots after facing nothing but 2nd tier opposition going into the fight.

For their protection, they should at least have had to prove themselves by knocking off a quality top five opponent before a getting a shot. I think the same should go for fighters moving up in weight from one division to higher one and then immediately fighting for a title at the higher weight. The smaller fighter should at least prove that they can beat at least one top contender in the top five, so as to protect them from possibly getting battered the way that Briggs was.

Briggs says that Vitali came to visit him in the hospital. He was really pleased that Vitali took the time to come and see him.