Written By William Trillo

Foto Folly: Bret "The Threat" Newton
 

It was two months ago that news of a Wladimir Klitschko vs. Shannon Briggs on November 11th at New York’s Madison Square Garden first hit the news wire thanks to Boxing2006/Pound4Pound.com. 

Everything seemed in order, just a couple T’s to cross and I’s to dot and everything would be good to go….or so we were told.

What has transpired since then is a web full of deceit and lies that would make President Bush's chief Trickmeister, Karl Rove proud.

The mastermind (term used loosely) of this tangled web is one Shelly Finkel, who from here on in shall be known as "The Black Widow". What he has done here is simply make a mockery of an already ridiculed division trying to bolster its image, and thanks to him, as we sit here today there is no fight set for that November 11 date.

Instead what we have is a lot of jockeying by every player in the heavyweight division and meanwhile the boxing public and fans can only shake their heads in disgust, we all are victims too, snagged up in this ugly web.

But before we cast all the poison in "The Black Widow’s" direction, let’s make this perfectly clear, he did not act alone. The players in this fiasco are many, and they all need to assume their part of the responsibility.

HBO, the majority of whose key employees, by the way are all on vacation, as is "The Black Widow" (cruising the Mediterranean), has not helped matters in the least, dragging its feet on making this fight official and then coming up with the brilliant notion that Maskaev vs. Klitschko would somehow fare much better than a Briggs/Klitschko fight, although the PPV numbers of a paltry 60,000 at best for Oleg vs. Hasim don’t justify that maneuver at all. HBO says a reunification fight would have greater impact. Duh? Isn't this the same HBO that has its announcers not mention the alphabet bodies! Adding to the problem is HBO/Finkel has to deal with a wily old boxing veteran of many wars, Dennis Rappaport, who has been out of the spotlight since he managed the Great White No Hope, Gerry Cooney, in the 1980s. Rappaport is having the time of his life right now -- his 15 minutes and 8 seconds of fame.

Since the day "The Black Widow" has offered up Klitschko and that infamous November date, our man Rapp' has been stringing him and everyone along for a useless and tiring ride. His answer is always the same, “This is a true Cinderella story, Oleg is hurt, he hasn’t seen a doctor, he needs time off, how can I tell him he has got to go back to camp in 3 weeks, the offer isn’t quite enough, call me tomorrow and I will know more, an ant can move a rubber tree plant, blah blah blah!” Face it Dennis, Oleg won’t be ready and if you do take the fight it’s only because someone upped the ante substantially. And by the way…."Wladimir Steelhammers Oleg Quick!"

HBO commentator Larry Merchant’s public dissing of Briggs has gone well past the point of opinion and it is obvious this is personal. I am not sure what Briggs did to violate Merchant’s ego, but somewhere along the line he did, and now Shannon is being dragged unmercifully through the wringer every time Larry gets his face in front of a camera and microphone. Either that or Larry has decided to play promoter for HBO, and so far is doing a real poor job. Drop it Larry, put your feelings aside on this one and let this fight go on…geez!

Another player in all this is Wladimir Klitschko.  "The Black Widow" IS NOT Klitschko’s Manager, he is merely an advisor, not only that, but "The Black Widow" is not under any contractual obligations, he can be dumped at anytime, no questions asked. If Wlad is so upset with the way negotiations are going, as well he should be, then why hasn’t he already squashed "The Black Widow" and be rid of him once and for all. The bigger question is why did he bring this guy onto the team to begin with, it’s been a poor fit since day one.

The heavyweight division is struggling, it has been trying to have an impact and win back its fans for years. And now, just when it seems that there could be some real interest in this division because of the Eastern European domination and the drive for an American to get “their” belts back, these yoyos have figured out yet another way to screw everything up.

Does a match up between The European Champion vs. The American challenger sound like a can't miss proposition to you?

Of course it does.

So then, why are we all stuck inside if this sticky web?

Let Briggs fight Klitschko, two huge heavyweights with sledgehammer fists and 82 KOs combined. That sounds like an exciting scenario.

Who needs Cinderella when you can get the Terminator Meets Batman!


Questions or Comments? Please Contact Will "The Thrill" Trillo