There is a reason that New Yorkers have garnered a reputation for being tough. On Saturday, Brooklyn’s Shannon Briggs embodied that reputation by going the distance with WBC heavyweight champion, Vitali Klitschko.
In doing so, Briggs became just the third fighter to ever go to the scorecards with the dominant Ukrainian. Unfortunately, his doing so also meant paying a steep price, one that could have and should have been avoided.
A first round bicep injury to Brigg’s left arm went undetected by ESPN3.com’s broadcast team of announcer Jon Anik and analyst BJ Flores, but surely not by Briggs, who didn’t come out as aggressive as anticipated. Post-fight knowledge of the injury puts the pieces together as to why Briggs shied away from throwing the haymakers he promised the pre-fight press conferences.
From the opening bell, Briggs was never in this fight. Klitschko controlled the action throughout, using his stiff jab to keep his shorter opponent on the outside. The big Ukranian effortlessly landed crushing rights at will, repeatedly finding on the left side of Brigg’s face. By round six, it was clear that Klitschko would retain his title. The only question left unanswered was whether or not Briggs would make it to the final bell.
As I watched Klitschko dominate round after round, I was brought back to September 2009 when “Dr. Iron Fist” battered Chris Arreola around the Staples Center ring for ten full rounds.
Klitschko easily won all ten rounds against the “Nightmare”, continually landing his vicious rights against Arreola’s ever-swelling face. While Arreola sat on his stool waiting for the round eleven bell to sound, trainer Henry Ramirez stepped in and told referee Jon Schorle to stop the bout.
When Ramirez stopped the fight, Arreola’s immediate reaction was one of devastation and disappointment. As he got up from his stool, Arreola screamed “No!” at Ramirez and raw emotion in the form of tears began to stream down the “Nightmare’s” red puffy face.
Although it was against his fighter and good friend’s will, Ramirez saw that Arreola didn’t even possess a fighter’s chance by the time round ten had ended and consequently threw in the towel.
Conversely, with regards to Brigg’s courageous efforts against the elder Klitschko, the “Cannon” was apparently calling his own shots.
“Despite prior reports, throughout the contest my trainer, Herman Caicedo wanted to stop the fight, but I made it clear that stopping was not an option. Thank you for all of your support and hopefully I showed you the heart of a lion and the perseverance of a Champion,” said Briggs in a released statement following the bout.
Nobody questions the heart of Briggs or Arreola (at least when he is in the ring). If Arreola had his way, he would have fought the championship rounds against Klistchko.
While Ramirez stepped in and saved his fighter from taking excessive, unnecessary abuse, Caicedo stayed quiet, letting his defenseless fighter take absorb a cringeworthy amount of punishment.
Perhaps Caicedo let him go because he — and Briggs — are both well aware that the fighter is well onto the back nine of boxing’s golf course, only a hole or two away from heading into the clubhouse and calling it a career. For the former WBO heavyweight champion, it was do or die, and Caicedo knew it.
Conversely, when the “Nightmare” was stopped by Klitschko last September, it can be presumed that it was Ramirez’s intent was to preserve his young fighter’s future, learn a lesson, and move on.
When thinking about the two fights and how both played out, I wondered if Briggs was in Arreola’s position at the time of the Klitschko fight — a young undefeated contender — would Caicedo have thrown in the towel and saved his guy for another day? My honest guess would be yes — the logic be that you’ll work your way back into contention down the road. But with this being a last hurrah type fight for Briggs, Caicedo let his guard down and failed to appropriately look after his fighter’s safety, as did British referee Ian John-Lewis, for that matter.
There is no doubting the heart of Briggs, who fought thirty-six minutes with Klitschko and was never sent to the canvass. Unfortunately for Shannon the Cannon, he went from spending time with “Dr. Iron Fist” to spending time with German doctors afterwards as he was found to have a suffered torn ligament in his left arm, multiple facial fractures, and a concussion.
Let this be a lesson in unnecessary punishment. There was no way Briggs was going to quit on his stool — he has too much pride, too much courage. But as a trainer, part of your job is protecting your fighter — not only preserving your boxer’s future in the sport, but also a healthy future outside of the ring.
Kyle Kinder can be reached at Twitter.com/KyleKinder
Photo by Claudia Bocanegra
