Shannon Briggs, 45, was supposed to face Fres Oquendo, 43, this weekend in a battle for the ages. But in a sign of the times a positive test for performance enhancing drugs knocked Briggs out of the match before he could reach the ring.
When Breitbart Sports asked the gray-bearded Briggs how he remained in contention for the heavyweight title at 45, he pointed to stretching, exercise, and diet. “I’m eating right all the time,” the former 403-pound man insisted before news of the drug test hit. “I stay away from junk food.”
But the junk he put into his body gave him a testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio of almost 8-1. Normal men generally achieve parity in the two chemicals.
From 1960 until Briggs defeated George Foreman in 1997, only Americans held the lineal heavyweight title. Since Lennox Lewis stopped Briggs in the fifth round of their 1998 title tilt, just one American (Hasim Rahman) has held the legitimate heavyweight championship. However unlikely, the Great American Hope fought to regain the title he won nearly two decades ago against a 47-year-old Foreman. He figured if a fortysomething Foreman could do it, so could he.
“He’s a living legend,” a contagiously upbeat Briggs told Breitbart Sports in May. “He’s a guy who came back and proved everybody wrong. He’s my inspiration.”
Proving people wrong usually works as all the inspiration Briggs needs.
“I was born a fighter,” he explained to Breitbart Sports. “I weighed under two pounds at birth. My mom was a heroin addict. My dad died in prison. All I know is how to fight.”
Unfortunately, such Brooklyn beginnings rarely allow for Hollywood endings. Shannon Briggs, never given anything in life, cut corners here. The big mouth behind the “Let’s Go Champ” catchphrase leaves fans saying “Just Go Champ.”
Instead of proving naysayers wrong about the gas left in his tank, the former heavyweight champion proved skeptics right about older athletes and the fountain of youth that flows through a syringe. We sadly expect fading athletes, particularly ones already with a failed test to their discredit, to trade in integrity for a final payday. One of the most colorful and charismatic contenders in the heavyweight division for once in his life surprised no one but instead lived down to expectations.
“I have kids now,” Briggs reasoned to Breitbart Sports before news of him popping positive hit. “I have to be resilient. I have to be strong for them. There’s tough times, there’s tough people. Tough people go through tough times. I was 13. I was sleeping in the subways, in the abandoned cars. Hopefully, somebody will see my struggle and say if the champ can do it, I can do it.”
The test results say Briggs did it. Hopefully, no kid will say if the champ can do it, I can do it.
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