Francois Botha vs Shannon Briggs - Highlights (SOLID SLUGFEST)

#shannonbriggs #fransbotha #90sheavyweight

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August 7th, 1999. Top contenders “The White Buffalo” Francois Botha took on Shannon “The Canon” Briggs in the undercard of the Marco Antonio Barrera vs Pastor Humberto Maurin main event.

Prefight records; Botha 39(24)-2, Briggs 31(25)-2.

Briggs was the aggressor from the opening bell and managed to land the first power shot with his left hand but it did not take long before Botha set up his jab and find the range for his overhand right in round 1. From then on, Francois managed to connect frequently and accurately while Shannon was mostly able to land clean blows every now and then.

With about 25 seconds left to end round 7, Briggs was badly hurt by a barrage of Botha blows.

For the most part of round 8, Francois overwhelmed Shannon who’s mouthpiece was knocked out at one point where timeout was called for a replacement.

However, Briggs came back strong after the fight was resumed and scored a surprising knockdown with a fusillade of hard punches. Botha began to bleed from the left eye after he beat the count.

In round 9, Francois rebounded and beat an exhausted Shannon to the punch once again.

In the final round, both got off to a good start but Botha went on to dominate all the way till the final bell with his unrelenting rights that busted Briggs badly; he was bleeding out of his left eye and ear while largely unable to return fire due to fatigue in addition to being badly shook up by the accumulation of punishment.

After 30 minutes of action, the 3 judges controversially had it a 3 way draw with scores of 92-95 & 94-94 (2x) despite the fact that The White Buffalo had apparently connected with the better punches despite being floored in round 8.

In the eyes of most observers, the South African fighter who twice challenged for the IBF World Heavyweight Title was robbed of a well deserved victory.

As for Shannon Briggs, this was the most painful moment of his career;

"The fight against Botha. I did everything the right way, just had a bad chain of events happen. I tore my left bicep before the fight. I had an ulcer the size of a dime in my stomach. I trained for the fight in Big Bear thinking the altitude would be good for me. Terrible. I couldn't run in the morning, it was too cold. It was just everything. That was heartbreaking. After the second round I was gasping for air. Botha broke my rib. Cauliflower ears. Stitches over both eyes. Hung in there for ten rounds. I was fortunate to get a draw. He really gave me a beating, physically. And mentally I was really down on myself, because the fight was so hard, grueling."

What do you guys think of the outcome of this fight? Let me know in the comments.'

Enjoy this highlight of a SOLID SLUGFEST, stay safe and SUBSCRIBE for boxing goodness!

[KeithFroehlich]

Briggs once again gets a loss taken away from him.

First Foreman and now this.

[MAC-twjq]

Botha was so underrated…great fighter every fight was a slugfest.

[TheSpoovy]

Rule one of boxing- never, ever, ever let it go the distance if you're fighting an American, in America.

[pokerclown]

Is it just me or did the heavy’s in the 90’s just slug it out way more ? I’ve been on a binge recently and although I remember these fights first time round I can’t believe how much more exciting they were.

[paulbaker]

Botha was the clear winner here.but I tell you what the heart the two of them showed.outrageous.current heavyweights wouldnt handle half those digs to the chops

[TargaWheels]

Most people don't know that Botha was a pretty decent kickboxer. That's why he's resilient. When people kick you in the head over and over, it makes a gloved-hand easier to absorb.

[KevinRodriguez-txlo]

Exciting fight with controversial decision

[kennethhewish]

Botha was one tough sob, completely fearless and hard as nails.
I think he won this fight despite the knock down!
Cudos to briggs aswel another tough man.

[trackandfieldarchive]

Briggs: Ridiculously talented, quick hands, big power but no grit or stamina.
Botha: Modest skill, but as brave as they come.
Meshed for a good fight.

[Khaos]

Botha one of the best white HWs ever .... the people he fought majorly impressive ...he was tough with an iron Had he fought in this Era he would be world champion

[DrNDJas]

Botha wins this.
That being said, these guys needed to learn some defense

[miguelangelmamani]

Acá en este resumen del boxeo sin duda ganó Botha!!!

[gavinchitray]

Another South African Champion we are proud off. He was as tough as nails.

[davidodia]

Briggs kept eating punches like it was dinner

[luke]

Briggs had an absolutely granite chin.

[ryanhills]

I love that Botha Dodge and cocky stare!

[GazAce]

What an absolute rip off! I've seen that entire fight a few times now, Botha won it easily. Someone made a lot of crooked money that night.

[liquidflow]

This fight shows :Although briggs was a good boxer, the lack of consistency, cause of character deficits, never keeps him staying at the peak of his possibilities. Today his skills and his endurence are gone and only his old character deficits remains with his ridiculous "let's go champ" public Poor clown

[brs]

The Cannon is knocking out Rampage this year. Mark my words! Briggs is gonna cook him deep-fry. LETSGOCHAMP

[guylindquist]

Wow, what a robbery! Botha won that fight and it wasn't close