One big complaint about boxing in the past decade or so is that the excitement has disappeared from the heavyweight division. The Klitschko brothers hit the scene and have pretty much controlled it ever since with nary a challenge along the way.
The division has lacked the pizzaz, the drama. It's lacked the excitement. Shannon Briggs appears to be doing his best to change that.
The 42-year-old former champ from Brooklyn is stumping for a match with champion Wladimir Klitschko, one that he apparently really, really wants. He's almost stalking Klitschko at this point, most recently showing up at a restaurant while Wladimir was eating some pasta.
What happened next would make Clubber Lang blush. (NSFW WARNING: Some foul language included.)
Yes, that's Briggs berating the champ while he eats and then eating from his bowl, saying he'll eat what the champ eats. Klitschko then pours some water on Briggs and he flipps out with some glass breaking in the process.
This incident at a Florida restaurant came not long after Briggs challenged Klitschko while he was training, even getting in the ring and talking a whole lot of trash, begging to fight the champ. (WARNING: More foul language included.)
Let's not forget that Briggs stormed in on another Klitschko event this year as back in April he attended a press conference prior to the champ's fight against Alex Leapai and hardly stood idly bye (see the photo above).
Now let's get this out of the way: These are very clearly staged encounters. This is kind of like Clubber showing up at Rocky's ceremony only to yell at him from the crowd. It's too perfect, especially in an empty restaurant and empty gym. In the off chance that it's not staged, well, Briggs is seriously committed to getting this fight.
Either way, it's entertaining. Getting some life and beef back in the heavyweight division, even if manufactured, can't hurt.
What might hurt, though, is a fight against Klitschko for Briggs, something that would seem to be inevitable at this point if this indeed is a marketing ploy. Briggs fought the older Klitschko brother Vitali back in 2010 and took a beating. He landed in the hospital after the fight with a broken orbital bone, a broken nose and a torn left biceps. Needless to say he didn't win.
H/t Big Lead
