U.S. boxers lose final hold on heavyweight belts
Ibragimov routs Briggs for WBO title; ex-Soviet boxers now possess all 4
 Tim Larsen / AP Russia's Sultan Ibragimov, right, nails New York's Shannon Briggs during the seventh round of their WBO heavyweight championship bout. |
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The last American heavyweight champion went down with a whimper. The Cannon never fired.
Instead, Russia’s Sultan Ibragimov easily outpointed Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs for the WBO title Saturday night. Ibragimov’s quick left hands dominated the listless Briggs to earn a 12-round decision.
“Tonight I will go to sleep as champion and will wake up as champion, and we’ll see what happens after that,” the 32-year-old Ibragimov said.
What happened for Briggs was simple: nothing.
The 35-year-old Brooklyn native pawed and postured, rarely throwing anything dangerous. His performance made his win over Sergei Liakhovich last Nov. 4 for the crown look like a fluke — Briggs scored a last-minute knockout when he was well behind.
There would be no such heroics this time. Ibragimov swept the scorecards, then leaped in the air in the ring when the decision was announced.
“Shannon was a very tough guy,’ Ibragimov said charitably. “I had to be real careful, I had to respect Briggs’ power. I didn’t like that kind of fight and I don’t like to fight like that.”
Members of former Soviet republics now hold all four heavyweight belts.
The 32-year-old Ibragimov joined Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko (IBF), Kazakstan’s Oleg Maskaev (WBC) and Ruslan Chageav of Uzbekistan (WBA) as heavyweight champions.
Ibragimov won a silver medal at the 2000 Olympics. But to get the heavyweight gold as a pro, he had to wait three extra months. Originally, Ibragimov (19-0-1) was to fight Briggs (48-5-1) on March 10 in New York. But Briggs contracted pneumonia — he also suffers from asthma — and the fight was postponed.
Instead, Ibragimov knocked out Javier Mora in 46 seconds back in March, and he pretty much toyed with the uninspired Briggs on this night.
Briggs then said he was forced to fight Saturday night.
“They threatened me,” he said, not identifying who did the threatening. “I really didn’t want to fight and they threatened if I pulled out they would sue me and they would have stripped me.”
So he got into the ring, but he barely fought.
Judge Lynn Carter scored it 119-109, while Luis Rivera had it 115-113 and Donald Trella scored it 117-111.
The Associated Press scored it 119-109.
While Ibragimov carried the action, he ended Briggs’ 12-bout winning streak. Briggs said he wasn’t prepared for the fight.
Briggs weighed 273 pounds, and Ibragimov was 221.
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“I proved that someone with asthma can become heavyweight champion. ... For two weeks, I couldn’t train, I was taking all kinds of antibiotics. I didn’t want to fight, but they made me fight and I had to fight.”
Briggs also feuded with promoter Don King before the fight about his $1.8 million purse. Ibragimov earned $600,000, with the opportunity for far bigger riches if he meets one of the other champions somewhere in Europe.
In the main bout on the undercard, local product Shamone Alvarez thrilled the crowd with a unanimous 12-round decision over Jose Luis Cruz. The unbeaten Alvarez won his 18th straight fight, helped by Cruz’s inability to keep his punches above the belt.
Twice, in the fourth and in the seventh rounds, Cruz (32-3-2) was penalized a point for low blows. Alvarez also cut Cruz above the left eye in the ninth round and on the forehead in the 10th.
“It wasn’t easy, but I knew all I had to do was stay with the basics,” Alvarez said. “I knew I wasn’t going to get the opportunity to knock him out.”
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