Shannon Briggs travels to UK to get David Haye fight

By Boxing News - 03/12/2016 - Comments

BriggsBy Scott Gilfoid: 44-year-old former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) is reportedly traveling to the UK this week to try and get a fight against David Haye (27-2, 25 KOs), possibly for his May 21 fight at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Haye recently said Briggs is one of the candidates for his next fight.

It looks like Briggs has gotten motivated by the lingering hope that Haye gave him, and he’s decided to travel to the UK to make the fight happen. It’s hard to know if Haye is serious about wanting to potentially fight Briggs, because he would be such a HUGE step up from the gawd awful opponent that Haye had in his last fight against Mark De Mori last January.

Haye fought a weightlifter type of fighter with an inflated ranking. Briggs at least can fight despite being very, very old.

Briggs says he’ll be in the UK next Wednesday at Buckingham Palace. Whether he actually will is the big question.

Supposedly, Briggs and #10 WBC Malik Scott (38-2-1, 13 KOs) are the final two candidates for Haye to pick from for his next fight. Scott was knocked out in one round by Deontay Wilder in 2014. I guess that would give Scott a very good chance of getting the Haye fight. Briggs isn’t the type to fold in one round against anybody. We saw Briggs take a horrendous 12 round beating by Vitali Klitschko six years ago in their fight in 2010.

As long as Haye is willing to go the full 12 round distance and take an occasional bomb to the head or body from Briggs, then it might not be a bad idea for him to face the 44-year-old. However, I doubt Haye will want any part of Briggs. He may be old, but he’s like an old unstable mine floating around the ocean ready to go off if it comes in contact with an object. Malik Scott is probably the safest choice for Haye if he wants a fast knockout without getting hit back.

Scott will probably fold in one round after getting hit a couple of times. Scott did recently beat the flabby 44-year-old Tony Thompson by a 10 round unanimous decision. However, Thompson had Scott down in the 9th round of that contest. If he had any youth left in his body, he probably would have finished Scott off in that round.

Haye was out of boxing for three and a half years after his 5th round knockout win over Dereck Chisora. Haye attempted to fight Tyson Fury twice and Manuel Charr during that time, but injuries sidelined him and kept him from fighting. Haye finally came back last January in wiping out a hand-picked Mark De Mori in one round.

Surprisingly, Haye didn’t get injured during training camp for that fight. I’m not sure how Haye made it through the camp without getting hurt. Never the less, the potential is always there for Haye to suffer some kind of injury that could wipe out a fight. He’ll be turning 36 in October, and his aging body has to be a concern for boxing fans when purchasing tickets for his fights.

“It’s the Champ. I’m on my way. LET’S GO CHAMP. LET’S GO CHAMP. LET’S GO CHAMP @ Great Britain,” Briggs tweeted. “Dear Queen I am in route traveling to your United Kingdom by way of cargo ship. All my friends and family that live in different parts of the United Kingdom I shall see you. I’m going to be at Buckingham Palace in London, England next Wednesday at 11 am. LET’S GO CHAMP.”

Like I said, I see Haye taking the weaker choice of fighting Malik Scott rather than Briggs. Scott is a proven commodity to fold quickly when met with resistance, and I think that’s what Haye wants in an opponent for his next fight. Haye isn’t going to want an opponent like Briggs, who will hang around for 12 rounds and nail him with hard body shots. Briggs can’t seem land head shots any longer at his age, but he definitely can bang to the body. Haye would get hit with some powerful body shots from Briggs. I don’t think Haye wants that to happen. As such, I see Malik Scott getting the pick from Haye for his May 21 fight.



Comments are closed.