WHEN I heard that Joe Frazier was ill I felt extremely sad. I knew him personally; it hurt me to think of him in pain. He was another fallen soldier and I hoped he could pull through, I hoped he could get up, but his number came.
I was an amateur when I first met him at a boxing show in Philly. I was a light-heavyweight at the time and I told him I was going to be a world heavyweight champion. I always used to try and box like Muhammad Ali back then. He looked at my arms and he watched the way I boxed.
?You remind me of ?The Butterfly?,? he said. I?ll never forget that.
A few years later I was training at the Joe Frazier Gym in Philly. Again, I was up on my toes and Joe told me again that I reminded him of ?The Butterfly?. I told him that he had told me this before.
?Okay, okay,? he said like only Joe Frazier could with that slight mumble or stutter. ?Okay, well, I?m glad you remember.?
He was then demonstrating how to throw a left hook to the body, and I don?t know if he knew his own strength, but Joe hit me. The force of the shot went right up into me. When Joe Frazier throws a left hook to your body, it feels like he?s going in there and grabbing your heart. I looked at him and I was like, ?Joe, please!?
He looked at me but he was still holding his fist there because he was trying to show me how to punch like that. He had his right arm around my back and was pushing me onto his left. He was showing me how to shovel into the body. It was an effective exhibition. I remember wondering if he was doing it so hard because I reminded him of ?The Butterfly?. It hurt, man.
When I was fighting I would often look out and see Joe Frazier watching. Imagine that? I could never believe that. There was Joe, one of the greatest fighters of all time, watching me, Shannon Briggs from Brownsville, New York. It was surreal because I spent so much time growing up watching Joe on the television.
Joe was a natural born wrecking ball. He was such a strong man, even when he was older I had to prepare myself for a broken hand when he came over to shake it. Every time I saw him I?d think, ?Oh s***, here we go again, I’m going to lose a finger this time.? What a strong guy. But it was always a pleasure to see him, an honour to speak to him.
I saw him in the last the couple of years. He looked good, he?d lost a bit of weight, but he spoke as well as he?d always spoke and I was happy to see him. I hugged him and he was proud of me after I?d won my title in 2006. He told me I was the only one who brought it back. And to this day, I?m the last American-born heavyweight champion. I told him that I didn?t get any credit for winning the title and he looked at me.
?They don?t give me no credit either,? he said.
But I gave him his credit. Joe was one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. He had a hard time growing up and he grew into a wonderful man. He was a father, a humanitarian, a great fighter and a great ambassador for boxing. His gym helped the kids, it got them off the street in one of the worst neighbourhoods in the country. Philadelphia is rough and you better believe that. Be careful who you fight from Philly because, thanks to Joe, even a bum could knock you out with a left hook.
Shannon now works for online marketing company Acquinity Interactive and continues to support his revolutionary asthma medication ZIVAIR
