DANNY GREEN vs PAUL BRIGGS

TUESDAY UPDATE (please see paragraphs in bold face at end of preview): Australian fans can look forward to one of that nation’s biggest fights in recent years on Wednesday when crowd-pleasing veterans Danny Green and Paul Briggs meet in a 12-round cruiserweight bout in Perth, Western Australia.
 
Green will be defending his IBO  title in a clash of former sparmates who are said to have had wars in the gym.
 
Briggs, 35, hasn’t boxed for almost three and a half years but he quit the game while still a top world-class boxer and his two stirring fights with Tomasz Adamek were among the most exciting in light-heavy history.
 
There has been a slightly discomfiting backdrop to the fight, however. The fight was originally planned for Sydney, New South Wales, but the state’s boxing authorities refused to sanction the bout due to concerns over Briggs’s fitness to box.
 
The Australian media has reported that Briggs had to retire due to issues with his adrenal gland and nervous system.
 
Briggs says he has passed extensive medical tests and that his medical problems have been cleared up.
 
The fact is, though, that Briggs has been out of the ring for a long time and is returning to meet a hard-hitting opponent — Green is on a run of seven consecutive stoppage wins, including the one-round blowout of Roy Jones Jr.
 
I believe that Briggs will be in tiptop condition. The NSW commission’s misgivings are understandable but I remember all the concerned comments in the media about Evander Holyfield’s so-called “heart condition”, only for Holyfield to score one of the great heavyweight championship upsets by hammering Mike Tyson.
 
Green is the older man by two years, so it isn’t as if Briggs is coming back to meet a much younger opponent. Green has been an active fighter, though, giving and taking punches and going through the training grind for seven bouts in the last three years. This, surely, will give Green a distinct advantage in the fight.
 
Briggs has always been a super-tough individual. He showed in the Adamek fights that he can take a great deal of punishment and still keep ploughing forward. Still, I do wonder whether he will be able to absorb punches in this manner after his long time away from the ring.
 
Green can crack with the right hand, and I think he can hurt even the iron-chinned Briggs, especially in view of Briggs’s layoff.
 
Briggs can punch too, though, and he has always had such an indomitable will that I don’t see this as an easy fight for Green.
 
I don’t think that Briggs would be coming back if he did not believe that he could win. He has too much pride for that. Green, though, has been in fine form in his recent bouts and seems to have a real enthusiasm for his boxing career.
 
Each man will usually come forward and fight although I do believe that both have better technical ability than generally realised. Green has an excellent, stiff left jab when he chooses to employ it, and Briggs has shown skills and a good jab.
 
On paper, this should, of course, be a war but a nagging concern I have is that as the two men know and,  I believe, like each other, it could turn out to be something of a friendly sparring session. I hope this is not the case, and that the fans in the arena and watching on TV in Australia are treated to an exciting and explosive contest.
 
Green is the clear favourite, largely due to Briggs’s inactivity, and I expect him to win. Briggs did not look good in his last fight before retiring — a points win over a South African boxer named Rupert van Aswegen, who had lost his last two bouts and was a 168-pounder moving up to light-heavy. Briggs won widely on the scorecards but suffered a swollen eye and was apparently unhappy with his performance.
 
I do not know how Briggs will look in his return: no one will know that until the fight gets under way. Maybe he will be refreshed and motivated and surprise everyone. My suspicion, though, is that Green will be able to land some big right hands and that by the middle rounds Briggs could be starting to slow down.
 
There was a time when I would have said that Briggs was almost impossible to stop — a knockdown suffered against Jesus Ruiz, a useful Mexican fighter, was really just a flash flooring. Due, though, to the combination of Green’s punching power and Briggs’s inactivity, I think the Aussie fans will see a stoppage on Wednesday. In view of Briggs’s medical history, I don’t think that Los Angeles referee Pat Russell will let the fight drag on too long if punishment starts to mount.
 
I do not believe for one moment that Briggs will be disgraced by his performance, but I can see him being rescued by the referee — after having given all he can give — in about nine rounds.

  TUESDAY UPDATE: Briggs came in at 192.7 pounds at the big-fight weigh-in for a match made at 185 pounds (Green scaled 184). Briggs took the view that the fight is for a cruiserweight title with a division weight limit of 200 pounds, so his weight was not inappropriate. Green says he feels Briggs has disrespected him and is seeking an unfair advantage. This new development increases the likelihood, I feel, of this being a hard-fought affair. It has become personal for Green. True, Green is now giving away weight, but the excess poundage might slow down Briggs and make him more hittable. I'll stick with my earlier opinion of Green to win by stoppage. If the fight goes past the ninth round I will be surprised.