The first thing about this fight is it illustrates the throwback aspect of superheavyweight boxing with 10 ounce gloves, which is like middleweights fighting with sixes. What you get is a cross between ancient Greek boxing and bare-knuckle boxing, or a close approximation to old time boxing of about 110 years ago. The smaller and harder the hand gear is in relation to the body mass the less the fighters worry about head shots and the more they worry about body shots. The chin, of course, remains the light switch with any size glove. Rather than discuss the fight I shall discuss each fighter’s style and you see how he applies his tools throughout the full 12 rounds. You will note a wider use of tools in the later rounds.

Okay, if you and I have to go collect some money from Shannon, we each need a spare bat. Because I guarantee he’ll still be standing after we break the first two bats on his big ass. He played a heavy in the first Transporter movie and somehow failed to squash Jason Statham in a marina dry dock and ended up underneath the boat I think.

Shannan fights out of a Philly shell guard and looks to go late in the game and catch the guy getting sloppy and KO him. His footwork is good, his upper body and head movement excellent, and he is the best punch roller in the division. His problem is he is too muscular in the upper body. If he tried to box conventionally he would be out of gas by the fourth round. He uses measuring, hand checking, and an extended lead. The more clinching he does, the more effective he will be. Guys built like him [Langford, McVey] punched in the clinch a lot—power punched. He needs to do as much clinch punching as he can get away with.

Shannon’s entire game is playing possum and capitalizing on mistakes, which should be helped along by heavy body punching; which is a reliable method for changing opponent behavior. He keeps his hands low to invite shots. Giving away the reach he does he does not want to get caught walking in with a lead off attack

Forget the bats, we need a gun. Vitali has fought in kickboxing matches in Asia—and can kick—sidekicks to the face!

Vitali has a very interesting style. His closed guard [look at the L orientation of the feet with the heels in line and the rear toes facing out at 90 degrees] may be left over from kickboxing, but is in fact a bare-knuckle guard. The low lead bothers me, and my guess is that shoulder has been injured. For a man his height the low lead is okay if he has a good chin—and his chin is great—and he leads off and has a high work rate, which he does. It is imperative that he not be caught with his weight over his rear foot. His stance is wide, taking away some power, but keeping his head safely back over his hips to reduce the chances of a chin shot, which is disastrous for guys this tall.

Vitali fences with his jab from an extended lead that he uses for hand checking and measuring. [The hand checking occurs mostly later on.] The key to this fight is can Vitali measure his man with his glove and forearm when he does not have leverage to punch. This will permit him to keep Briggs targeted and unable to counter. The jab from this low lead is sometimes thunderous when he steps behind it. An important aspect is how he plays with that shitty shovel hook, which isn’t going to KO anybody but sets him up to measure and sets him up to finish later.

His big weapon is the right: the cross, straight right, and plunging overhand right, which is his best variation. He will throw this to the point of compromising his balance and uses his oblique muscles and rear calf when he rips it downward. If he can get his man fading back over his right hip then that shitty shovel hook can get snappy and lift the chin so it can be nailed again. This is his KO gambit. I particularly like how he brings that overhand down with the elbow winged, which he uses as a cross face—to measure—and as a wing block against the only weapon Briggs can take him out with, which is the left hook.

Work rate is a bigger factor than normal in this fight for both men.

If Briggs can get hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder, control the clinches, and commit to a vicious body attack, he should do well.

If Klitschko measures his man [Ali’s favorite tactic]] with glove and cross face, and starts popping that shovel hook when Briggs does the Philly fade, he should beat that big possum righteously.