DEERFIELD BEACH,
Fla.—World Boxing Council No.1-rated
175-pound contender Paul Briggs signed a promotional
agreement with Don King Productions today.
This is the first time Briggs has signed with
a promoter.
“I have
shunned all offers from promoters for the
last three years,” Briggs said from
King’s South Florida office, “because
I wanted to become the No. 1 light heavyweight
mandatory challenger to make sure I would
be a top priority for any promoter.
“Aligning
myself with the most powerful promoter in
the world in Don King is a great move for
me,” the Australian now living in Pomona,
Calif., under the training guidance of Jack
Mosley said. “I have been highly impressed
with Don King and his accomplishments, but
I am also impressed with his team, many of
whom have been with him for decades. It says
a lot about Don and his company.”
King was also
enthusiastic about inking Briggs.
“I am
thrilled about signing another Australian
in Paul Briggs, who will join his fellow Australian
Kali “Checkmate” Meehan in our
DKP team of fighters,” King said. The
Honorable John Howard, Prime Minister of Australia,
is a staunch ally of America and George Walker
Bush, so I am very pleased and proud one of
his countrymen, a great fighter and future
world champion Paul Briggs, chose me to be
his first promoter.”
Briggs, 29,
boasts a professional ring record of 23-1,
with 17 knockouts. He has defeated boxers
ranked in the WBC top 10 in four of his last
five fights. He has also been victorious in
his last two appearances, both of which were
world title elimination bouts.
Briggs had
planned to face undisputed light heavyweight
champion Antonio Tarver as Briggs is Tarver’s
WBC mandatory challenger, and King had won
a purse bid in Phuket, Thailand at the WBC
annual convention to promote the fight.
Although it
is expected that Tarver will fight Glencoffee
Johnson on Dec. 18 in Los Angeles, the WBC
has given Tarver until Friday to sign the
contract to fight Briggs.
This is not
the first time Briggs has faced losing Tarver
as an opponent. Tarver defeated Montell Griffin
to win the WBC and International Boxing Federation
175-pound titles, and Briggs hoped to fight
him, but Tarver opted to face Roy Jones, Jr.,
a fight he lost in November 2003 before knocking
Jones out in an immediate rematch on May 15.
“If it
were me,” Briggs said, “I’d
face my mandatory challenge for $2.2 million,
keep my [WBC] belt, and attempt to unify for
another great payday.
“I think
he’s running from a 29-year-old power
puncher to fight a 36-year-old man in Johnson.”
Briggs has
had an interesting life and fighting career.
He became a professional Muay Thai boxer at
age 15 where fighters are allowed to use shins,
knees and elbows in addition to their fists.
He became a world champion in this discipline
at 19, retired at 22 and returned to boxing
at 24.
“I love
fighting,” Briggs said. “I actually
took up boxing at age 8 before pursuing Muay
Thai fighting, so when I returned to boxing
at age 24, I was returning to my first love.”
Interestingly,
Briggs points to his one and only loss as
the most important fight of his career, which
came during a two-fight foray into boxing
at age 17 and 20 where he won his inaugural
bout and lost the second.
“I
learned that if you don’t train, you
get smashed,” the Aussie said. “That
loss is more important to me than the 23 victories
with no defeats I’ve had since then.”
Mick
O'Brien's Olympic Boxing Academy
Phone/Fax: 61 08 9445 2667 Mobile:
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