Liakhovich-Briggs - Boxing News, Tips And Picks

Liakhovich-Briggs
By Carlos Guzman
Posted: 5:00 am PDT 2006-10-22

On Nov. 4 in Arizona, Sergei "White Wolf" Liakhovich (23-1, 14 KOs) defends his WBO heavyweight title against Shannon "The Cannon" Briggs (47-4-1, 41 KOs). With Eastern Europeans dominating the heavyweight landscape, Briggs feels he's America's best hope to regain control of the titles.

"People do not know who these champions are," Briggs said. "They do not know who Liakhovich is, Valuev, Klitschko. They do not care. These guys are not personable, these guys are not marketable. They are ugly. They get on my nerves. I am sick and tired of them. Everybody wants to see a champion they can identify with and they can talk to. I am here to just clean up this mess."

Most experts say boxing is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical. Win the mental battle before the fight, and the rest is easy. In recent memory, one can recall Diego Corrales' surprise move before his second bout with Joel Casamayor, where he hired Casamayor's former trainer, Joe Goosen, to prepare him for the bout. The gamble paid off with a W for Corrales. Ripping a page out of Team Corrales' book, Team Briggs hired Chuck MacGregor, who previously trained Liakhovich to give Briggs an edge:

"Chuck is a guy who I have known a long time and for many years," Briggs said. "Actually, a few years back, I tried to get Chuck to train me, but at the time he was training quite a few other guys. So he did not have the time and I understood that, so it did not work out. Then it just happened to be that we were fighting here in Phoenix and we thought that Chuck would be great to add to the team, so it worked out perfectly. It is great. He used to train this guy, he knows how this guy fights. He knows his personality. So I think it is great, man. I am looking forward to being WBO heavyweight champion Nov. 4."

If Liakhovich was rattled, he was able to hide it during the news conference:

"I have a message: Chuck knows nothing about me. In one year, I have changed quite a bit and I am now with a great trainer, Kenny Weldon. What you are going to see in the ring is something that Chuck has no idea about. So they are just fooling themselves. But I understand Shannon Briggs needs to feel that way because he is fighting the best champion out there and it is kind of a scary walk out there. He talks the talk. He has a big mouth. I have major plans, you know, basically (knocking him into) the second row."

It's hard to make a pick so early in the game, but I'm sticking to my guns and giving the edge to Liakhovich, also the sportsbook favorite. I've seen a few pictures of Briggs, and he just looks a little too big, too bulky to last the distance. Briggs' chances will come early where he's strong. If he can't get Liakhovich out of there with the first 4 rounds, the title will slip through his hands. It's now or never for Briggs.

Jeff Lacy- Rubin Williams-Allan Green Update

My last article has rekindled the war between Rubin Williams and Allan Green. Bobby Dobbs of Holden Promotions read my article and was quick to respond:

"I have spoken to Allan and to Tony Holden. None of us have heard anything whatsoever about a Rubin Williams fight," Dobbs said. "We are talking about a date to HBO, and I doubt they would take Williams as an opponent. But, if they did, we would do it in a second.

"Our position is that Allan is ready for a big fight. Williams would be a step backwards. I personally would love to make it, but I think HBO would expect a higher quality opponent. Jeff Grmoja from Silverhawk is a friend of mine. But, he and I have not spoken about matching Green vs Williams since prior to the (Emmitt) Linton fight (this past summer)."

As for Green's next opponent, Holden says, "We are now in negotiations with HBO to get Allan on a 'Boxing After Dark' show. You can be assured one of the names we will submit will be Rubin Williams. But, if HBO will not take him, there is nothing we can do."

Williams thinks the HBO approval thing is just BS and that Green is ducking him:

"I never really had nothing to say to the kid, but he started this back and forth with me, saying that he was calling me out and I ran from him," Williams said. "I didn't even know who he was. I just knew he was an upcoming hot prospect, and I didn't care nothing about that -- I was trying to win a title like he was. But then he continued talking about me so, therefore, I started calling him out.

"His fight on Oct. 14 was supposed to be against me on HBO B.A.D. HBO approved me then. For the main event, they wanted Peter Manfredo to fight someone tougher -- they didn't accept the fight against Joey Spina. So I guess Manfredo's people were like, 'Well, it doesn't matter. We can make just as much money putting this fight in Rhode Island and fighting on ESPN.' So that's why that card didn't make HBO -- the opponent.

Rubin was also quick to comment about a potential bout with Jeff Lacy:

"As far as Lacy, we got the approval from HBO as an opponent. He was saying stuff like he couldn't get approval from HBO for certain people. So we went and got it ourselves, sent them the paperwork and everything. And he never responded back. I think he wants to fight such bad opposition that he's willing to not even be showcased on HBO. They're putting pressure on him to pick a certain caliber opponent."

10 Seconds

Mike Tyson's return to the ring Friday in the first exhibition bout of "Mike Tyson's World Tour" in Youngstown, Ohio, was a yawner. Tyson took on former sparring partner Corey "T-Rex" Sanders, who wore headgear. Tyson did floor Sanders in the first round but seemingly held up his opponent all night. There were about 4,000 fans in the 6,000-seat arena. "It was fun, that's my first time boxing since my last fight," said Tyson, who retired last year after losing to Kevin McBride. "I didn't know how tough it would be."

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