PRESS RELEASE: Due to the carnage caused by Hurricane Wilma, comebacking former linear heavyweight champion Shannon “Brooklyn” Briggs, 43-4-1 (37 KOs), has been forced to pull out of his fight with Saul Montana scheduled for November 4 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The news is not all bad, however, as the setback has cleared the way for an appearance on promoter Stacy Goodson’s action-packed “Arkansas Heavyweight Slug Out,” November 26, at the Fort Smith Convention Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Briggs will face rugged 6’ 5”, 265-lb veteran Brian "Bam Bam" Scott, 25-6 (16 KOs), who is best known for his two-round destruction of Courage Tshabala.

 

“The eye went right over my house!” said the New York native who now resides in Florida. “This was my first hurricane and I had roof damage and a window blew out, but the big problem is that we had no power for a week. We just got our power back yesterday. It was rough. No food, gas shortages everywhere. The stores were closed, you couldn’t get any food. It was crazy. I wasn’t able to train because there’s no power at my gym either.”

 

Briggs, who immediately resumed training now that life is returning to normal, says in addition to the Scott fight, he is hoping to squeeze in one more appearance (which would be his fifth of 2005) before the end of the year.

 

Manager Scott Hirsch explains that Briggs is maintaining an active fight schedule for two reasons. “By fighting five times in a year, we are showing the new Shannon Briggs is serious about being becoming World Heavyweight Champion again. We’re also keeping him sharp. There are a lot of big fights being mentioned for Shannon in the near future, so we want him at 100% of his game.”

 

Possible foes being mentioned include James Toney, Calvin Brock and power-punching veteran David Tua. Briggs says he’ll take any of them and is looking forward to the opportunity to get into a high-profile showdown. “I’d like to fight any of those guys and then fight for the title after that. I feel great about where I am at physically and mentally and I’m looking forward to a big year next year. Let’s get it on. I’m back.”