THE BANKER IN THE BULLPEN

By Michael Swann

Last Saturday night in Atlantic City Sultan Ibragimov won the WBO heavyweight title with a thoroughly convincing unanimous decision over Shannon Briggs, 119-109, 117-111, and 115-113 before a disappointing but raucous crowd of 5,132. Ibragimov, 21-0-1 (17), a feisty southpaw, followed a masterful game plan set up by his trainer, Jeff Mayweather, and boxed brilliantly even if by his own admission he didn’t care for that fighting style.

“Shannon is a very tough guy,” Sultan said after the fight. “I didn’t like that kind of fight and I don’t fight like that.”

The asthmatic, power punching Briggs, 48-5-1 (42), outweighed his opponent by 52 pounds and at 6’4” had far more than the two inch height advantage listed on the program, a differential that seemed magnified in the ring. Briggs shook Ibragimov with a first round right hand, but that was the highlight of the night for him. He simply didn’t throw punches, was unable to cut off the ring and was continually tagged with straight lefts from every conceivable angle. Shannon was never in the fight competitively.

While part of the crowd was booing, some were jumping and yelling in Russian as they left their seats to get closer to ringside, causing a confrontation from some Briggs fans whose view was blocked. Others were screaming obscenities at the ring and each other, causing a confrontation among Briggs supporters over who loved Shannon most. In any case, it’s safe to say that the only ones who left the building with the thought that they had just witnessed anything other than a turkey were the members of the Russian contingent who cheered on their hero. To Sultan’s credit, he did what he had to do inside the ring.

Team Ibragimov did what it had to do outside of the ring and the back door maneuvering to make the fight happen was far more interesting than the fight. Sultan’s team was prepared for any contingency and as rumors continued to persist of a Briggs pullout, they were ready with a backup plan involving “The Boxing Banker,” Calvin Brock.

As late as the final press conference, Briggs said, “This guy isn’t in my league. I’m going to take it to him. The asthma is fine. Everything is good. I’m 100% for this fight.”

To support this statement, Briggs did not disclose anything to the contrary to the New Jersey Athletic Commission on the pre-fight questionnaire, and he did in fact pass his physical.

Yet after the fight Briggs appeared at the post fight press conference with a cut and bruised eye and said that Golden Boy Promotions and Seminole Warriors Boxing had sent him to their doctors when the original March 10 date had to be postponed because of his bout with pneumonia. He claimed that they said that he was “a coward, a phony, a liar, and that he was afraid to fight [Ibragimov].”

“After going to their doctor, he said I shouldn’t be in the ring for four to six months due to scar tissue on my lungs,” Briggs said.

Back in training for the June 2 rescheduled date, Briggs said that he began to feel the same discomfort and was told that he still had the infection.

“At that point, I was on Zithromax for three days and antibiotics for 15 days,” he continued. “Don King took me to the best pulmonary doctors in the country and then pulling out wasn’t an option. One, feeding my family and two, three and four, the politics involved. They threatened to sue me and possibly ban me. I was told the networks wouldn’t pick me up if I pulled out of the fight. With that being said, I came to the fight wounded and I still thought I won.

“I fought a kid with 20 fights and he fought like a kid with 20 fights. He fought, for him I guess, a smart fight. He boxed. He ran. I thought you had to beat the champion to get the belt.

“I’m the greatest fighter of all time. No disrespect to Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Robinson but they didn’t have asthma.”

Briggs said that three weeks ago he was on IV’s with Zithromax for three days and the doctor said he shouldn’t be fighting. He told the doctor, “Well, give me $1.8 million then.

“She didn’t give me the money so I showed up tonight.”

A writer asked Briggs who threatened to sue him and he replied, “Well not to be pointing fingers but,” pointing his finger inside his hand at Leon Margules, the Executive Director of Seminole Warriors Boxing, Ibragimov’s promoter who was standing at the podium.

Late in the week, three members of the Ibragimov camp were becoming more and more concerned about the status of the fight. According to a reliable source, the issue was in doubt until the opening bell. Margules arranged to have Calvin Brock’s fight with Alex Gonzales pushed back until after the main event in case Brock was needed as a standby in the case of a last minute pullout. The source said that it was rumored that Shannon had not been training properly.

The source said that the WBO was prepared to sanction the fight with Ibragimov and Brock as a title bout.

“I was hopeful that they would sanction the fight if Briggs didn’t show up,” Margules replied when asked if he had asked the WBO to sanction the bout.

(Brock later was floored in the third round before going on to an eight round unanimous decision, 79-74, 77-74, and 77-74. Gonzalez last won a fight in 1999. Brock earned $40,000.)

It was also revealed from an insider that Briggs was renegotiating his managerial contract with Scott Hirsch, threatening not to go into the ring before it was resolved. Literally just prior to the fight, around five p.m., the new contract was delivered. Whether or not this plays any part in in this intrigue is known only by Briggs.

Don King, Briggs’ promoter, was prevented from being part of the promotion because of an earlier problem with the Casino Control Board in Atlantic City that precludes his being licensed there. Still he has a contract with Briggs stating that he would get 20% in the event of a purse bid. For now, his money is in escrow. Whether or not he gets it is as yet undetermined since there is some question as to how much his licensing prohibition would affect the matter.

Golden Boy and Warriors outbid King by $1 million in the purse bid for the fight. The high bid allowed Briggs to receive an estimated $1.875 million, while Ibragimov was to receive $625,000.

Margules was asked for a response to Briggs’ charges.

“He’s had bad health for many years,” he began. “The harder he trains, the sicker he gets. So either give up the title or fight sick. When he pulled out of the fight in February he could have asked for six months but he asked for 45 days. He got three months because I couldn’t reschedule the fight that quickly. I could have said, ‘fine let’s have another purse bid.’ King and them wanted me to reschedule the fight and still pay the $1.8 million. I said, ‘fine, but if he doesn’t show up next time he’s not the champion anymore.’

“He had a physical, he passed his physical.

“He had a lefthander and didn’t want to fight him. He kept saying the kid didn’t deserve to be #1.

“I have my own theory. The guy has acute asthma. The older he gets, the bigger he gets. The bigger he gets, the sicker he gets.”

Margules is now left to mull over the many possibilities that have opened up for Ibragimov. The best bet, at least the one with the greatest financial upside with the lowest risk would be an Ibragimov-Evander Holyfield fight in Moscow. Other possibilities include the aforementioned Brock, and even Vitali Klitschko.

Regarding Vitali, Margules said, “I’d rather fight Wladimir and unify.”

As for the defeated Briggs, after the fight he sauntered down the boardwalk on foot, drawing a crowd like a rock star, signing autographs, posing for pictures, just soaking in the moment.

His manager, Scott Hirsch, who came so close to getting the axe, had this to say about Shannon after the fight:

“I was proud of the effort that Shannon showed. He wasn’t at his best, but he fought his best. He showed a championship heart. Muhammad Ali had to lose to Leon Spinks to become a three time champ. We’ll be back. I’ll drag him back.”

Unfortunately for Shannon, he is dogged by a disease that compromises his conditioning and that’s that. I can see why he took the fight because it’s unlikely that he’ll ever see another $1.8 million payday.