The WBO heavyweight boxing champion, Shannon Briggs, has backed out of his first title defence against Sultan Ibragimov as the American has pneumonia.
Shannon Briggs won the WBO crown by beating Sergei Liakhovich in November but he is now expected to be sidelined for at least three months.
If the 35 year old had won the fight at Madison Square Gardens, he could have looked forward to a fight against on of the other heavyweight title holder in a unification bout.
Vladimir Klitschko of Ukraine is the IBF champion, the WBC’s champion is Oleg Maskaev, while Nikolai Valuev of Russia holds the WBA belt.
Briggs commented on the possibility of a unification fight:
“Everybody talks about it. I’m behind that 100%.
“Klitschko isn’t that great. I think he’s overrated. He’s got a china chin, a glass jaw. He’s fighting small guys. When he fights guys that can punch, we’ll see.
“Valuev right now is the most dangerous. He’s a 300lb man. I think he’s the biggest challenge.”
What do you think of Briggs’ fight being scraped?
And what’s your opinion of his future boxing career?
