On Friday afternoon, Tyson Fury responded to WBN’s exclusive interview with Shannon Briggs to confirm his interest in taking on the American.
The pair may not be able to agree on many things. One subject both can relate to is experiencing difficulties in securing a fight with David Haye.
Briggs expressed his severe disappointment in Haye after the Englishman broke his promise to fight the 46-year-old in 2016.
“I was very annoyed because at the time I wasn’t in a great financial position. I had to come over to England to get myself a little flat in Bermondsey,” Briggs exclusively told World Boxing News.
“So I came to England like a true guy looking for a job. I went to Buckingham Palace and I went to his press conferences. I went everywhere.
“He said he’d agree to fight me, everything was done, the paperwork was fine. I was put on his undercard. He told me if I won I’d be his next fight.
“I did everything champ, with little or no money, just to survive and feed my family back home. I was doing gigs and special appearances for between £500 and £1000. I’d like to give a shout out to my boy Jay King for helping me.
“I was really grinding. But I thought, ‘it’s fine because I’ve now got this fight, I’ll knock him off and get to a title shot.’
“Out of nowhere, he just dropped me. He changed his email, his number and the rest of his details. I could have sued but then again, I wasn’t in a financial position to do so.
“Frank Warren, Eddie Hearn, everyone all got together and asked, ‘what’s going on here? The people are embracing him, what’s going on?’
“Everyone has love for the champ, even Anthony Joshua was showing me love. The fighters are the only ones who don’t. They’re scared of my age, they’re scared of the threat I bring,” he added.
Quizzed on if he’d consider a fight with Haye if the chance emerged, he said: “I wouldn’t entertain it because he’s a coward. He’s not a true boxing man. At the same time, I’ll come over and fight anybody – I’m crazy!”
Haye is scheduled to lock horns with Tony Bellew at the 02 Arena on May 5, with the hope of avenging his defeat to the Liverpudlian.
Their first fight in London witnessed Haye snapping his achilles on the way to being defeated by the ‘Bomber’ in the eleventh round.
REMATCH
However, Briggs was quick to question the relevance of the rematch.
“I watched their fight. His leg broke during the fight,” Briggs said before bursting into laughter. “I couldn’t believe it. Is Bellew a light-heavyweight? What’s this world coming to man?
“Why are they fighting again? That’s what I wanna know, no one cares! Who wants to see them fight?
“There’s nothing on the line. I’ll be back in two or three weeks’ time max, I want everyone to meet me at Buckingham Palace, we gotta talk to the Queen – enough is enough!”
Joe Hewlett is lead writer for World Boxing News. Follow Joe on Twitter @Hewlett95
