Two-time world heavyweight champion Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs and three-time title challenger Fres Oquendo will battle for the World Boxing Association (WBA) Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Backyard Brawl: Briggs vs. Oquendo taking place on Saturday, June 3, 2017 at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Doors open at 6 p.m. with first fight at 7 p.m. Tickets are on sale now.
By Jim Dower: In a battle of old timers, 45-year-old Shannon Briggs will be fighting 43-year-old Fres Oquendo for the vacant WBA World heavyweight title on June 3. The venue for the fight could potentially take place at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida.
The World Boxing Association has two titles at heavyweight. The other WBA title, known as the ‘Super World’ heavyweight belt, will be fought over by Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko next month on April 29 at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
By Jeff Aranow: Earlier today, heavyweights Shannon Briggs and Fres Oquendo met for a purse bid. Unfortunately for them, there wasn’t a big enough bid to meet the World Boxing Association’s minimum requirement of $1 million, according to Fight News. The WBA has now scheduled a second purse bid for the Briggs-Oquendo fight on February 23.
Hopefully there will be a large enough bid for the second purse bid so that the fight can go ahead. Today’s high bid was $400K by Henry Rivalta from The Heavyweight Factory, according to Fight News.
By Eric Baldwin: The World Boxing Association has ordered heavyweights Shannon Briggs and Fres Oquendo to fight it out for the vacant WBA heavyweight title. Briggs, 46, reportedly wants the Oquendo fight to take place in London, England. Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) has been building a fan base in the UK since fighting on the undercard heavyweight David Haye’s last fight in May of 2016.
It looks like Briggs is trying to position himself to fight a unification match against IBF champion Anthony Joshua in the UK if he can capture the WBA title.
By Dan Ambrose: A fight between #5 WBA Fres Oquendo and #4 WBA Shannon Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) is expected to be announced soon, according to Fight News. It is believed that they would be fighting for the vacant World Boxing Association title. Browne was going to fight Oquendo for the WBA title, but he was out with an injury.
Briggs hasn’t fought since May when he defeated Emilio Zarate by a 1st round knockout on the undercard of David Haye’s fight against Arnold Gjergjaj. Briggs was hoping that he would get a fight against Haye if he fought on his card.
By Scott Gilfoid: With #3 WBA Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne having tested reportedly tested positive for a banned substance, Matchroom sport promoter Eddie Hearn says that unbeaten #1 WBA Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (26-0, 22 KOs) should fight Shannon Briggs (60-6-1 53 KOs) for the vacant WBA ‘regular’ instead of Browne. Ortiz, 37, is ranked #1 by the WBA.
Hearn said this to IFL TV about Ortiz getting the fight with Briggs:
By Eric Baldwin: In what could be terrible news for #3 WBA heavyweight contender Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne (24-0, 21, he’s reportedly allegedly tested positive for a second random drug test for 2016, which makes it highly unlikely that he’ll be able to fight #5 WBA Shannon Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) for the vacant World Boxing Association title.
It’s unknown if Browne will get a chance to have another sample tested to prove that he’s clean. The Browne team has yet to speak on the alleged positive test results for the banned substance.
By Scott Gilfoid: The World Boxing Association surprised a lot of fans on Tuesday when they ordered 44-year-old Shannon ”The Cannon” Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) and Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne (24-0, 21 KOs) to fight for their vacant WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight title. The winner Briggs-Browne fight must face 43-year-old Fres Oquendo (37-8, 24 KOs) within 120 days.
Oquendo hasn’t fought in the past two years since losing to Ruslan Chagaev by a 12 round majority decision in July 2014. However, even a rusty Oquendo might prove more than a handful for the Browne vs. Briggs winner. They’re both flawed heavyweights, and both are up there in age. Browne is no spring chicken at 37.
By Eric Baldwin: The World Boxing Association has reportedly ordered a fight between #3 WBA Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne (24-0, 21 KOs) and #5 WBA Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) to fight for their ‘regular’ with a deadline at the end of this year on December 31.
The two aging heavyweights must face each other by that time frame if they want to fight for the WBA belt. The 37-year-old Browne was going to be fighting Fres Oquendo, but he still reportedly isn’t ready to fight due to a shoulder problem. Oquendo will get a title shot against the winner of the Briggs vs. Browne fight.
By Scott Gilfoid: Shannon Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) is saying that he’ll be fighting former WBA heavyweight champion Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne (24-0, 21 KOs) for the vacant World Boxing Association title next. This is the WBA title that Tyson Fury recently vacated along with his WBO strap.
If the news turns out to be true, it would be pretty shocking considering how many arguably more talented heavyweights there are in the WBA’s top 15 rankings than those two guys. The 44-year-old Briggs is ranked is ranked #8 by the WBA despite the fact that he’s not beaten anyone remotely close to being a contender since launching his two-year comeback to the sport in 2014.