Shannon Briggs Briggs began his career in 1992 and was undefeated in his first 25 fights, and was trained by Teddy Atlas. He suffered his first loss when he was knocked out in three rounds by undefeated Darroll Wilson in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 1996. The fight was broadcast on HBO and was a showcase of young heavyweight fighters. Briggs fought against lineal champion George Foreman on November 22, 1997 at the Trump Taj Majal Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Coming into the fight, Briggs sported a 29–1 record with 24 of his wins coming by way of
Shannon Briggs result went to the judge's scorecards. One judge scored the fight a draw at 114–114, while the other two had the fight scored 116–112 and 117–113 in favor of Briggs, giving him both the majority decision win and the lineal heavyweight title. After Lennox Lewis successfully defended his WBC title in a dominating first-round knockout victory over Andrew Golota, he agreed to defend his title against the winner between Briggs-Foreman in the elimination bout organized by the WBC to determine who would become Lewis' next opponent. Though Foreman's promoters protested the result and Lewis instead turned his attention to a