Former champ boxing his way back at Scope

NORFOLK

Shannon Briggs left the homeless shelter in style.

"I'll never forget," the former heavyweight champion said. "They sent a limousine to pick me up. It was weird. Everyone was clapping."

The limo took him to the airport, where the promising young boxer who lived briefly on the streets of Brooklyn caught a flight to Norfolk. Briggs stayed in an Oceanfront hotel for eight months while training in Pernell Whitaker's camp in Virginia Beach. Whitaker's manager, Lou Duva, brought him down as an amateur.

"It was a great time," Briggs said. "It got me out of New York."

Twenty years later, Briggs, now 38, was back in town Monday, promoting his May 28 fight at Scope, the second in the International Championship Boxing "Knockout Series." Briggs (49-5-1) is fighting on the co-main event against veteran Rob Calloway (70-11-2) of Saint Joseph, Mo. Light heavyweights Daniel Judah - younger brother of former world welterweight champ Zab Judah - and Adam Seal will face off in the other co-main event.

"We're back," promoter Jack Fulton said at a news conference announcing the card.

That's a feat in itself, considering few local promoters have had a second round in recent years. Fulton's first event on April 3 drew about 1,200 fans. He hopes for a larger turnout this time, and clearly, Briggs is the name being counted on to sell tickets.

The last American-born boxer to hold a world heavyweight title, Briggs is on a quest to bring the crown back to U.S. soil.

"The heavyweight division needs me," he said. "The United States needs me to do it."

The state of the American heavyweight union is dire. A series of U.S. contenders have been dispatched in coldly clinical style by the brothers Klitschko, Vitali and Vladimir. Between them, the Ukrainians hold three of the four world heavyweight titles. A Brit, David Haye, holds the other.

Briggs has been calling out the Klitschkos for years. With the division lacking in star power, he ended a 30-month retirement last December in hopes of getting a shot at one of them, possibly by next year.

Briggs has fought twice since coming out of retirement. His first bout was declared a no-contest after he tested positive for a banned substance. He attributes the test result to medicine he was taking to control his asthma, a condition he's battled throughout his career.

After serving a 90-day suspension, Briggs knocked out Rafael Pedro 28 seconds into their bout on April 13.

Briggs' big right hand made him an intriguing prospect for years. He broke through with a win over George Foreman in 1997 that gave him the mythical "linear" heavyweight title. He won the WBO belt in 2006 by knocking out Siarhei Liakhovich with a second left in the fight. He lost the title in his first defense and took a 30-month break.

The 6-foot-4 Briggs ballooned to 340 pounds but is down now to 260 and would like to shed 20 more pounds.

Bearded and dreadlocked, he cuts an imposing figure. He's also articulate and funny, with several movie acting and public speaking credits.

A natural salesman, Briggs has a soft spot for Virginia. As a kid, his mother sent him to Sussex County each summer to live with relatives, and get him out of Brooklyn. His family has roots in the county that go back many generations, he said. Many of his relatives still live there, as well as in Petersburg and Richmond, he said.

His family alone could boost attendance by a significant margin, he said.

"This is really like my second home," he said. "We might have four or five hundred Briggs people here."

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com