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MR BIO FILE: GET 2 KNOW SHANNON BRIGGS
By SCOOP MALINOWSKI
SPECIAL TO FIGHTNIGHTNEWS.COM
Status:
Heavyweight contender who hopes to challenge IBF
champ Wladimir Klitschsko in big HBO title bout on
November 11 at Maidson Square Garden.
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Ht: 6-3 1/2 Wt: 260
DOB: December 4, 1971 In: Brooklyn, NY
Childhood Heroes: "Muhammad Ali - he
called me Pretty Lady because of my hair.
Larry Holmes - my dad always watched him, liked
him. To this day I love Larry Holmes."
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Hobbies/Interests: "Collecting movies is
a hobby. I love to act. I've been making moves
at it. I just did Transporter II which opened
about a two months ago. I was in Bad Boys II. I
got another movie coming out called The
Retirement that I'm in, it's with Peter Falk,
Rip Torn and Coolio. So I'm happy about that.
And that's all because of who I am as a boxer.
I'm fortunate enough to do something like
acting. I love watching and collecting movies.
And now I'm actually being in movies, so it's
unreal."
Favorite Movies: "Aw man, Devil in a Blue
Dress. Angela's Ashes. I mean, come on, that's a
hard one. So many. I can't say I have one
favorite. There's like five great ones."
Favorite TV Shows: "Ever? [Laughs]
Growing up, I grew up on Alice [laughs]. Three's
Company, I grew up in that era. What's
Happening. Good Times. So I select those old
shows. It's originality in those old shows.
Taxi. Love Taxi. The new shows today kinda lose
me. They're all kinda like the same. Okay, been
there, done that. I like the old shows."
Musical Tastes: "Old soul classics. Soul
music, R&B and hip-hop. Hip-hop of course. I was
born and raised on hip-hop in the 70's and 80's.
The whole world is hip-hop crazy. I love hip-hop
for what it's done, how it's crossed over. It is
mainstream."
Early Boxing Memory: "Crazy how I got
into boxing. Growing up out of Brooklyn, inner
city, nothing to do. One day I was flipping
around the channels, saw the Buster
Drayton-Matthew Hilton fight. Said, That's what
I'm gonna do. We used to slap fight in the
street. I was pretty good. My friends said I
should go to the gym. One day I took the bus. We
got there at 3. Didn't open till 5. We waited
outside and it was freezing out there. Inside I
saw blood flying. I thought, I'm never coming
back. First time I sparred I got beaten up by a
professional guy. Somehow I always found myself
on that bus coming back (age 17)."
First Job: "Scooping ice cream at the
South Street Seaport."
First Car: "1981 gray and white Cadillac
Seville."
Favorite Meal: "Everything."
Favorite Breakfast Cereal: "Frosted
Flakes or Froot Loops - it's a tie."
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: "Butter
pecan."
Pre-Fight Feeling: "Different emotions
back and forth...Damn!...f*** it, I'll kill
him...Damn...f*** it...I'm gonna kill him
[laughs]. That's what's going through my head.
Damn, all these people out there. I gotta do it.
This is important. I got the comeback. I gotta
make it happen. I can't lose. f*** it, I'm gonna
kill him. Then it becomes anger. But then I
gotta be on top of myself. Be sharp. Go out
there and be sharp to handle my business. Don't
slack. Be sharp, see everything. Don't miss a
shot. Everything counts."
Greatest Sports Moment: "Beating George
Foreman. Getting the decision against George
Foreman. Felt good. I felt unbelievable. Then,
at the same time, it was the best moment and the
worst moment. Because the media ripped me apart.
Oh, it was fixed. It was the greatest moment - a
bittersweet type of thing."
Most Painful Moment: "The fight against
Botha. I did everything the right way, just had
a bad chain of events happen. I tore my left
bicep before the fight. I had an ulcer the size
of a dime in my stomach. I trained for the fight
in Big Bear thinking the altitude would be good
for me. Terrible. I couldn't run in the morning,
it was too cold. It was just everything. That
was heartbreaking. After the second round I was
gasping for air. Botha broke my rib. Cauliflower
ears. Stitches over both eyes. Hung in there for
ten rounds. I was fortunate to get a draw. He
really gave me a beating, physically. And
mentally I was really down on myself, because
the fight was so hard, grueling."
Embarrassing Boxing Memory: "Losing to
Sedrick Fields. Even though I thought I won. I
thought it was embarrassing, that he had such a
bad record. It was a close fight. Embarrassing
in the sense whereas I came to the fight just to
knock out an opponent, to make a payday. It
didn't go my way."
Funny Boxing Memory: "My whole career's
been funny to me. You know, looking back, it's
been a great ride. I'm 34. Turned pro at 20.
It's been 14 years. I've never been seriously
hurt. I'm making money. I'm having fun. I got to
meet all types of people. See, I came into
boxing as a fan. I was a fan from the outside,
watching Ali, Holmes, all these guys. Now I
actually got to meet and shake their hands.
Touch 'em. Say, Oh, snap, they're real people. I
thought they were like fistic heroes, comic book
heroes. Shakin' hands with 'em. In the ring with
a Foreman...like, this can't he happening. My
dad watched him. I watched him. I read
everything you could read about him. Being
inside like the comic book now. So this whole
thing is fun. I'm still having fun. I'm laughing
at all y'all [laughter]."
Favorite Boxers To Watch: "Ray Robinson.
Floyd Mayweather - sick, I love it. Kid's
unbelievable. Roy Jones in his prime. I love the
boxers. Don't get me wrong, I love the tough
guys. I've been watching a lot of old fights.
Dwight Muhammad Qawi. Love it. Marvin Johnson.
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. Right now I'm into the
light heavyweights. The 70's, 80's was unreal.
Yaqui Lopez. I'm like, Whooa. They tryin' to
kill each other. They willing to die. Put their
life on the line right now. 15 rounds of
punishment. Can't beat that."
People Qualities Most Admired: "People
that can come back. The art of the comeback. Are
you real? Shake off the dust. The art of the
comeback. That's what I'm lookin' at, that's
what I'm into. I'm lookin' at those guys like,
okay, he's not a one hit wonder. Can he come
back? That's what my drive is right now. Okay,
you know me. But let me show you who I really
am. And re-invent myself. Come back again. And
you're gonna be like, Oh, snap, I remember him.
He's real. You know what I mean?"
Toughest Opponents: "George Foreman.
Lennox Lewis. Both of 'em was tough. They were
just tryin' to kill me, man. My whole thing is,
Scoop, I've been enjoying my career. I look back
and I wouldn't change anything. Not a win, not a
loss. I'm where I'm at today because of it. With
my family, more importantly. I got my wife with
me, my son. I wouldn't have that if I wouldn't
have gone through what I went through. If I
would have knocked out Lennox Lewis in that
first or second round, sheesh, I might not be
sitting here right now [laughs]. Blow away in
ashes. I would have been partying and
celebrating and all that type stuff. I was
young. I wasn't ready for it. Look at Mike
Tyson. 20-years-old, heavyweight champion of he
world. Where's he now? Imagine being
20-years-old and having $100,000,000. I can't
even imagine that at 33. I like to think, right
now, where I am right now, I could control
myself. That's a tough burden to carry.
$100,000,000. Sheesh. Can you imagine what you
would do with all that money, let alone power?
But I feel good about it. I feel I've matured.
I'm where I'm supposed to be. A lot of people
say, Oh, I would do this different. Not me. Not
me." |
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