Sultan Ibragimov vs. Shannon Briggs

Charles Martel · May 27, 2007

This fight will most likely end in a KO or TKO. Briggs has a size and reach advantage and good speed, but Sultan has the advantage in balls and boxing skills. I'm hoping for the blue-eyed Russian to win, although I think he's a natural cruiserweight and perhaps shouldn't be fighting at heavyweight. He won the Silver Medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics in the under 200 lb category (they call cruiserweight 'heavyweight' in the amateurs, and call heavyweight 'super heavyweight'.

It should be an exciting fight. I've bet money on Ibragimov to win. This is Don King's last heavyweight titleholder. Will King decide to drug Sultan like he may have done to Wlad and Foreman? He and Briggs will try whatever they think they need to do to win, but I think Ibragimov will prevail.
Edited by: JD1986

JD074 · May 27, 2007

It's too bad there isn't more money in Cruiserweight. That could be a great division. There must be a lot of talented athletes who can't cut down to 175, but can't carry 250 either. There's a huge gap between Light-Heavy and Heavy. Brian Minto comes to mind as a guy who should definitely be fighting at Cruiser.

Charles Martel · May 28, 2007

Yes, the gap between heavyweight and light heavyweight is too big. It would make sense to increase Light heavyweight to 185 and maybe super middleweight up to 170. Then, there would be a lot of people who would choose light heavyweight.

Cruiserweight seems to me to be a boring division, there's not a lot of stars there. Middleweight has Pavlik and Abraham, super middleweight has Calzaghe and Kessler, light heavyweight has Diaconu and Woods, but there no one who really impresses me much at cruiserweight. Mind you, if people like Chagaev and Ibragimov were there it would be an interesting division.

WHITE NOISE · May 28, 2007

Sultan needs to box Sham-man Briggs over the first 6 rounds. Briggs will be gassed at that point and ready to go down. Unfortunatley, Briggs will no doubt be huge again (steroids) and has a punchers chance to knock Ibragamov out at any time. Best case scenario is Edited by: WHITE NOISE

JD074 · May 28, 2007

JD1986 said:
Yes, the gap between heavyweight and light heavyweight is too big. It would make sense to increase Light heavyweight to 185 and maybe super middleweight up to 170. Then, there would be a lot of people who would choose light heavyweight.

That's a good idea. I thought that an easy way to simplify the divisions would be to use 10 pound increments: 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, then up to 200, and then Heavyweight. 185 instead of 180 would be good, too. The weight divisions in Olympic boxing would be good, as well.

Who do you think is the best white Cruiserweight? Maccarinelli, Huck, Wlodarczyk... I can't think of too many.

Gary · May 28, 2007

I would like to see Sultan win by KO so we can have all the belts.I could be wrong but the best of the bunch could be Povetkin.

moose · May 28, 2007

cruiserweight has got some very good fighters,tokarev,huck,maccaranelli,dale brown,alexeev,aurino,cantatore.

Charles Martel · May 28, 2007

Gary said:
I would like to see Sultan win by KO so we can have all the belts.I could be wrong but the best of the bunch could be Povetkin.

I think you're right about Povetkin, he and Wlad are the two best heavyweights. I think Huck may be the best cruiserweight, but I don't follow that division closely enough to know. I pay more attention to heavyweight, super middleweight, middleweight, and light welterweight (because of Hatton). And recently, because of Diaconu, light heavyweight is becoming interesting too.Edited by: JD1986

speedster · May 29, 2007

I think this could be a fight where neither guy is willing to engage too much.Ibragimov outboxes Briggs and wins a decision.

referendum · May 29, 2007

For what its worth, betting line has Sultan about a 2 to 1 favorite.

Gary · May 30, 2007

I seen Diaconu fight on TV not long ago and he looks very impressive.Strong and a good puncher-Hope he becomes a Champ!

speedster · May 30, 2007

If I had my way there would be the traditional eight divisions and do away with the jr's or the super's as some call them.While were at it have one champion in every division.Simple.

JD074 · May 30, 2007

speedster said:
I think this could be a fight where neither guy is willing to engage too much.Ibragimov outboxes Briggs and wins a decision.

A conservative fight is definitely feasible. They'll both be wary of the other's power. It'll probably depend on Sultan, whether he comes after Briggs aggressively or not. Briggs will probably sit back and look to counter. That's my guess anyway.

Sultan will have to fight a very smart fight. Every time he punches, he'll be within Briggs' punching range, so he'll always have to be on guard for a devastating counter-punch. Any sloppy moment and he'll get caught. He can't be stationary in Briggs' punching range, and he can't get caught with counters. The margin for error is very small, IMO.

He can win, but he's gotta be quick. Get in, land a punch or two, and get back out. And he has to be in great shape, because he'll have to keep his feet moving for the entire fight. He has to be like Chagaev in his victory over Valuev, except that Briggs is a better puncher than Valuev (but worse stamina.) Whatever you do, Sultan, keep moving! Wear him down and pick away at him all night long.

P.S. Also, Sultan seems to be better when he's being pursued (Whitaker, Mora) than when he's doing the pursuing (Austin.) Like I said before, I don't see Briggs aggressively pursuing him, so that could be an additional challenge for Sultan. Edited by: JD074

Charles Martel · May 31, 2007

Shannon Briggs just weighed in at 273 and looks even more steroided than usual.

Sultan Ibragimov weighed in at 221. He's had his best heavyweight performances between 215 and 220, and in his worst (Austin) he was at 232. He looks to be in good shape.

I'm eagerly anticipating this fight. If Sultan wins, we have all four heavyweight titles. Edited by: JD1986

jaxvid · May 31, 2007

Briggs looks big. It's gonna be a tough fight for Sultan.

white is right · Jun 1, 2007

jaxvid said:
Briggs looks big. It's gonna be a tough fight for Sultan....Actually it might be surprising easy. That weight can only hinder Briggs. If Sultan can take his early agression he should win going away in the mid rounds. The physique Briggs has is only good in the movies. Maybe he will be the henchman in the Transporter III or Punisher II.....

Hockaday · Jun 1, 2007

Well, looks like Briggs won the flexing contest at the weigh-in, hands down. But so did Lacy and Miranda, and look what happened to them. Then again, they were roughly the same weight, no fifty pound advantage, just different builds and types of muscles.

Why is Ibragimov a 2-1 favorite? I know he's a tough guy, but who has he beat? How can he deal with Brigg's physical advantages? This is one unpredictable fight, for me anyway.

How about this: Briggs bounces Ibragimov off the canvas a couple times, gets gassed trying to finish him, then succumbs to Ibragimov's counter attack.

Charles Martel · Jun 1, 2007

Goofi (Lance Whitaker) was even bigger than Briggs at 6'8'' and about the same weight at 270 and Ibragimov sent him to the canvas three times. Austin is Briggs' size and in better shape, and Sultan floored him. And remember what happened when David met Goliath?

Prediction: Ibragimov by KO or TKO after knocking Briggs down several times.Edited by: JD1986

JD074 · Jun 1, 2007

Man, Briggs is heavier than ever. I thought I heard something about him losing weight. Nope. He's 273 pounds but doesn't look fat. Sultan looks like a normal guy.

And it'll be interesting to see the height difference between the two when they step in the ring. Camera angles can make it hard to tell, but the first pic is very striking:

Sultan is listed at boxrec at 6-2 and some have said that he's 6-3. Briggs is listed at 6-4.

JD1986 said:
Goofi (Lance Whitaker) was even bigger than Briggs at 6'8'' and about the same weight at 270 and Ibragimov sent him to the canvas three times. Austin is Briggs' size and in better shape, and Sultan floored him. And remember what happened when David met Goliath?

Yeah, but Briggs hits so much harder than them. And Sultan had problems with Austin's height and reach. We haven't really seen if he's made any improvements in his boxing since the Austin fight , thanks to Javier Mora jumping all over him. (Not like Mora was big enough and talented enough to test Sultan's boxing anyway.)

But we all know that looks can be deceiving. This fight will be about skill, especially Sultan's defensive skill. Let's hope that it holds up against the size, height, and reach advantage of his foe.Edited by: JD074

Solomon Kane · Jun 1, 2007

I hope Briggs gets KO'd and Stephen A. Smith has to report it! (Smith was the guy who said that Briggs "brought respect back to the heavyweight division.") Go Sultan! The bigger they come the harder they fall!

Bart · Jun 1, 2007

What landed on Briggs head?

onewarrior5 · Jun 1, 2007

Just because Sultan looks like Barney Rubble from the Flinstones doesn't mean he can't fight.

Sultan tko 6 rounds

JD074 · Jun 1, 2007

JD1986 said:
Shannon Briggs just weighed in at 273 and looks even more steroided than usual.

His physique doesn't look freakish. He's just big and heavy without looking that fat. Personally, I don't like baseless steroid accusations. I didn't like it when people did that to Lance Armstrong, or Roger Clemens, or when Max Kellerman claimed, based on no evidence whatsoever, that seven out of ten heavyweights take steroids. What a creep. If an athlete passes all of his drug tests, he passes all of his drug tests. That's about all that can be done about it.

I know we dislike most black athletes and are looking for reasons to criticize them. That's going to happen around here, and I'm fine with it for the most part. But it makes us look petty to assume that a black athlete is on steroids just because he has big muscles. If you hadn't noticed, a lot of black athletes have big muscles! I don't know why, but that's just the way it is. Are we going to assume that they're all "roided up?" That would seem very petty and envious, IMO. I would rather just accept it, and not take it too seriously. Being an athlete is about a lot more than just being muscular. We know that.

Hey, bottom line is that the best fighter will win, regardless of what their biceps or pecs look like. Hopefully the better man will be our man. We'll find out soon enough. Edited by: JD074

White Shogun · Jun 1, 2007

JD, although I agree with your post, you lost me when you said, "bottom line is that the best fighter will win, regardless of what their biceps or pecs look like."

Better hope it's by KO and not a decision! This is boxing!

Edited by: White Shogun

Charles Martel · Jun 1, 2007

Does anybody else think that hairstyle makes Briggs look dumb? Anyway because of Brigg's bragging about sending Sultan into orbit and all his BS trash talk about Wlad being afraid to fight him, it will give me great satisfaction to see him humbled by the smaller Russian boxer.

Sultan Ibragimov vs. Shannon Briggs

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