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NEW YORK - The boxing odyssey of Shannon Briggs takes a new turn when the Brooklyn native makes the first defence of his WBO heavyweight title against Russia's Sultan Ibragimov on March 10 at Madison Square Garden.
The 35-year-old Briggs, who began his professional career as a 20-year-old in 1992 and lost a 1998 title shot against Lennox Lewis, finally claimed a world title with his last-second stoppage of Sergei Liakhovich last November.
Now the 193cm, dreadlocked Briggs returns to the famed Garden, where he once fought as an amateur, to defend his World Boxing Organisation crown against southpaw Ibragimov, the 2000 Olympic silver medallist.
"My dream was always to win and defend the title there," Briggs told a news conference. "Now I'm going to be defending it and that's a dream come true for me.
"I've come a long way from being a homeless kid in Brooklyn to being world champion."
The title match will be staged in Madison Square Garden's Theatre, a cosy venue with a seating capacity of 5149.
"This is a great opportunity for me to showcase my talents at home," said Briggs, who has a 48-4-1 record.
Briggs was trailing on all three judges cards in his title fight against Liakhovich in Phoenix but the big American knocked the Belarussian down twice, the second time sending him through the ropes and out of the ring as the referee waved an end to the 12-round bout with one second left.
Ibragimov, ranked number one by the WBO, had won his first 19 pro fights before battling American Ray Austin to a hard-fought draw last July in Florida.
"This is a tough kid," Briggs said in praise of Ibragimov before putting his game face on. "He doesn't have a lot of respect. He thinks he can win. That motivates me."
Ibragimov said fighting Briggs, who tips the scales at around 270 pounds, is a challenge he is ready for.
"The opponent is very good. He's big," Ibragimov told Reuters. "But we have many different strategies which we've worked on. All my last fights were with heavy opponents, so I've become accustomed to heavy opponents.
"We have a special plan we're going to use and we're going to win."
After this mandatory defence, Briggs hopes he can move on to a unification bout against one of the other heavyweight title holders -- the IBF's Vladimir Klitschko of Ukraine, WBC champion Oleg Maskaev, or WBA champion Nikolai Valuev of Russia.
"Everybody talks about it," Briggs said. "I'm behind that 100 per cent.
"Klitschko isn't that great. I think he's overrated. He's got a china chin, a glass jaw. He's fighting small guys. When he fights guys that can punch, we'll see.
"Valuev right now is the most dangerous. He's a 300-pound man. I think he's the biggest challenge."
- REUTERS
