Shannon Briggs says Tyson Fury fight possible

By Boxing News - 11/02/2017 - Comments

Image: Shannon Briggs says Tyson Fury fight possible

By Jim Dower: Former heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury says he’s in talks with British promoter Frank Warren about a fight against former unified heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs). This would be a very interesting fight for the boxing fans in the UK. Briggs is a real character, and he still has a lot of pop in his punches. He’d be a definite threat to Fury if the fight takes place.

Briggs hasn’t fought in a year and a half since his 1st round knockout win over Emilio Ezequiel Zarate on May 21, 2016. Briggs had been hoping to get a fight with David Haye, but that never transpired. For whatever reason, Briggs hasn’t fought since then. Fury is in worst shape than Briggs, as he hasn’t fought in 2 years since his 12-round decision win over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015. Moreover, Fury has packed on a lot of weight that he’s going to need to take off before he can fight again. Briggs looks to be in good physical condition. He hasn’t gained the kind of weight that Fury has in his time outside of the ring.

Here’s what Briggs said on his Instagram about possibly fighting Fury:

“In talks with Frank Warren about giving me @gypsyking 101 a good ole [expletive] whippin. Frank seems to think I’m going to be a simple tune-up fight before a later fight with @anthonyjoshua I had to explain to the old geezer @frankwarren_official that he ain’t getting past me and that if he referred to me as a tune-up again I would punish @piesyonFury slow and ruin him,” said Briggs.

Fury, 6’9”, has the size to beat the 6’4” Briggs if he chooses to face him in his first fight back from his lay time out of the ring. It still figures to be a tough fight for Fury, because Briggs knows how to fight, and he packs a wallop. Briggs might have problems landing head shots at this point in his career, but he can still throw hard to the body. Fury hasn’t fought a body puncher like Briggs before.

Fury will need to be in good shape for him to elude Brigg’s ferocious body attack, because that’s clearly the way he’ll be looking to fight the Gypsy King if they do face each other in 2018.

Briggs has exclusively knocked out 8 of his 9 opponents during his comeback with body shots. Briggs launched his comeback in 2014 after being out of the ring for 4 years from 2010 to 2014.

It’s unclear whether the soon to be 46-year-old Briggs will be able to get the fight with Fury or not. Briggs tested positive recently for testosterone earlier this year in May. Briggs was given a 6-month suspension by the World Boxing Association. The suspension is expected to expire soon, so we could see Briggs back inside the ring soon. Fury would be taking a risk if he faces Briggs in his first fight back from a 2-year layoff.

“You have to run up on a big guy like Fury and pummel him,” Briggs says. “He’s the type of guy who’s strong and determined but he’s slow. My plan is to win the title and give back to the world by traveling – I’m the real gypsy – and spread positive energy to the people.”