EDITOR’S LETTER
The WBA must end this Shannon Briggs-fres Oquendo nonsense now
The WBA must come to their senses
IT will be an absolute abomination if the WBA sanction the proposed contest between Shannon Briggs, 45, and Fres Oquendo, 43. The organisation ordered the bout in January, but it was reported in February that the required purse (at least £1m for a ‘world’ heavyweight title fight) had not been met; unsurprisingly, no one was willing to stump up the cash to stage the contest, presumably because no one felt they could make their money back on such a ludicrous investment. But last week, Briggs – 11 years removed from his last notable victory – indicated that the contest will go ahead on June 3 in Florida.
Of course, this title is the sanctioning body’s utterly needless second tier ‘world’ belt and should not, under any circumstances, be confused with a worthwhile championship. However, you can bet that confusion will indeed occur as both combatants make their battle cries; already Briggs is saying not only will he be the first fighter to be a world heavyweight champion in three separate decades, he’ll also break George Foreman’s record as the oldest man to win it, and Oquendo – who has been out of the ring since 2014, for goodness sake – is talking about this like it’s his destiny (see pages 12-13).
The WBA’S real belt will be contested when Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko collide in April, an elite contest that should have no business being associated with Briggs-oquendo. Why, if Joshua or Klitschko is to be crowned their king in April, do the WBA need to create another ‘champion’ five weeks later? On the one hand they gain credibility by sanctioning the most meaningful heavyweight title fight in years, and then with the other flush it down an eternal bog by staging the worst one in history. There can be no explanation for this belt other than the sanctioning fees it generates.
The pointlessness of the title is not the only thing wrong here. The more pertinent issue is why Briggs and Oquendo have been nominated to fight for it in the first place. As already mentioned Briggs hasn’t beaten a world class foe for over a decade and the last time he stepped into the ring with one (October 2010, versus Vitali Klitschko) he was hospitalised. Don’t get me wrong, “The Cannon” was once a heck of a fighter, albeit an underachieving one, and he’s a lovely bloke too.
Likewise, Oquendo is very personable, yet not only has he been inactive for almost three years, he hasn’t defeated anyone who could be deemed a threat since 2009 when he stopped a faded Bruce Seldon, and you have to go back to his victory over Maurice Harris six years prior to that, to find an opponent who could rightfully claim to be in the Top 20. Are the WBA not aware of this? Do they not have access to the fighters’ records? Reportedly they’re obliged to give Oquendo a shot due to a botched rematch clause with Ruslan Chagaev that dates back to 2014, but even then, the veteran had done nothing to merit being involved in the first place. This mess is purely of the WBA’S making. The only positive here is that it’s two fighters of similar ages and limitations, who have paid their dues to a too often dirty sport, and at last may benefit from its hooky habits; both will get a tidy purse (if the required cash is stumped up, of course), and the winner can show off a shiny belt at the end of it and then claim to be king.
But that’s when we return to the danger zone. The winner - if the WBA’S policies that brought together Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs together in a fantastic fight remain - will be in line to take on Joshua or Klitschko. Imagine that. A mismatch of such epic proportions the WBA are in danger of having blood on their hands. And that, frankly, is why this must stop now.
DO THE WBA NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THE RECORDS OF BRIGGS AND OQUENDO?