HAZY OUTLOOK: Briggs wants his sport to smarten up its act before it’s too late
THINK back to when we had guys like Mike Tyson knocking everyone out, to when Evander Holyfield was always in exciting fights. We just don?t have that now. Vitali Klitschko should have obliterated Tomasz Adamek on Saturday night, he should have knocked him out cold. I was very upset watching that, it almost makes you cringe. The Klitschkos don?t make for exciting fights, they?re just guys who use that European style and the sport needs excitement. The heavyweight champion should provide that excitement.
They?re winners, please don?t get me wrong and think I?m being hostile for the sake of it, but it?s hard to deny they?re boring to watch. We need something new, something exciting, but it?s hard to see where we?re going to get that from.
I love boxing but I have lost all respect for the people behind the scenes, the commentators, the managers and the promoters. They?re nothing more than people who are tearing boxing down when we need people to build it up.
I don?t think the boxing economy is attractive to young African-Americans who could potentially become boxers because there is no structure. Look at the National Football League, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League. They all have one body, they have one commission, you know where you stand. Now compare that to boxing: There?s seven or eight so-called governing bodies, some of those have more than one type of ?world? champion ? like the WBA with their super, regular, real champions or whatever. There?s a million divisions where after every three pounds you?ve got a new weight class. It makes a mockery of the sport.
Something has to be done at its core for things to change. Do we abolish the sport and start again? It needs one commission to take control. Not everybody should automatically be allowed to become a fighter, there needs to be B and C leagues. We can?t just pay people to get beat up. Let the fighters prove themselves at a lower level ? then they can be a professional fighter.
Everyone shouldn?t be allowed to be a promoter or a manager. You just can?t walk out of prison, for example, and say you want to be involved in the NBA. No; there?s things that you have to do, there?s qualifications that you need. There are the right steps you have to take.
Again, let?s compare that to boxing: You can have somebody come out of jail after serving 20 years for rape or murder, walk up to a commission in America, and become a promoter or a manager. These are things that shouldn?t happen.
It?s part of the reason why I?m coming back, with my trainer and my brother Elliot Aiken, with my promoter and manager Garry Jonas. Garry has already made his billions, he loves the sport, he respects the fighters for what they do. We want to shake this thing up for real.
Think about it. There is currently no structure, there is nothing to stop all the atrocious things from happening. Parents will not look at boxing and think it is a good option for their kids. And why should they? They will hear bad things about criminals acting as promoters and managers. They hear this stuff about these authority figures and why would a parent want their kids involved in boxing?
People have always made money off the fighters. It?s like the dog fighting business. The fighters are treated like animals. I?ve heard it said many times that fighters come and go but managers and promoters stay the same, and as long as that happens you are always going to have the mistreatment of fighters. 98 per cent of fighters end up broke and with health problems.
There should be Retirement Unions, there should be health insurance, it?s like the Wild Wild West at the moment. I was stuck in Germany, left for dead, with a bill for my healthcare. Why should I cover that? I?ve just put my life on the line in the ring. Nobody cares about the fighters, we?re just a means to an end, and that has to change.
Shannon now works for online marketing company Acquinity Interactive and continues to support his revolutionary asthma medication ZIVAIR
