Danny Green (30(27)-3), the Australian 2000 Olympian who gained instant fame for his one round knockout of faded Roy Jones Jr. recently beat out of shape and overweight Paul Briggs (29(18)-3).
What a disappointment to fight fans and the boxing world. This fight should have never happened in the first place. Briggs was seen as unfit to fight but was allowed in the ring due to his reputation. He had two wars with Tomasz Adamek for the light heavyweight title years back. Briggs last fought in 2007. With no tune-up fight, seen as over the hill and a faded boxer coming out of retirement, what were fans expecting? Was Briggs really going to face the powerful Danny Green and put on a war? The world hoped so.
Instead, Briggs went down off of a glancing jab in the first. My grandmother could’ve taken that punch. Maybe he slipped or it could’ve been a flash knockdown. For sure he would rise and return to the fight. Instead, Briggs was on all fours and stumbled when he tried to rise. Who could believe this man used to be known as a warrior?
There are two answers to this disgusting display of character and sportsmanship. We know that Briggs was not in shape and should not have been boxing. Was he really in that poor of shape? To be knocked out by that specific punch, one would have to be in horrible shape and probably never have stepped into the ring before. Although Briggs wasn’t fit to box, one can assume that he wasn’t a chump. The IBO allowed him to fight due to his reputation. They must have thought that Briggs would be able to put up a fight although he was not in fight shape.
The second issue is even more disgusting than the first. Was Briggs paid off to take a dive in the fight? It is rumored that an abnormally large amount of money was placed on bets that Danny Green would win by 1st round knockout. Danny Green won by 1st round knockout. Green did have 16 knockouts coming during the 3rd round or earlier. 2 of those knockouts came in the 1st round (including the famed RJJ KO). Green has won by 1st round KO, but not even close to a safe bet; unless you knew that the opponent was going down in the 1st.
Briggs should not receive payment and I hope the investigation gives us answers. Even though it will not fix what happened, it will definitely serve some justice and show that fighters shouldn’t be allowed to fight if they are not fit to, regardless of reputation, AND that if you want to fix a fight, you will get caught.
i think there was something fishy when he fought roy jones j.r to..
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