I feel great about the boxing in South Florida.
— Shannon Briggs
I got caught up in the whole celebrity thing, lost control at times.
It was rough growing up but it was best for me, it's what made Shannon Briggs, it's who I am.
My mother died on my birthday.
The heavyweight boxing needs Shannon Briggs and boxing needs Shannon Briggs.
I got into boxing because I wanted to fight Tyson.
I never said I was a Tyson, Bowe or Ali. I said I'm Shannon Briggs, the latest, not the 'greatest.'
I want to be famous.
The goal is to be heavyweight champion of the world.
I'm a dreamer.
I lost to Lennox Lewis in a very controversial decision.
Boxing's been good to me.
I respect Haye as a man and for being a former two-weight world champion. But not as a boxer.
It wasn't until the birth of my daughter that I realised I had to get it together. I had my second chance in life to do what I'm doing, which is inspire people to not give up.
Naysayers have been saying stuff my whole career.
Depression is not a choice.
I truly, truly suffered depression, to the deep core.
My mother taught me right and wrong, and the right is the only way to go.
If the money is right, I will fight a bear.
We all know what this business can do to you... you end up walking on your heels.
If I don't knock out Lennox Lewis, I am going to beat the hell out of him.
I was 18-years-old hanging out with Mickey Rourke and Johnny Depp at Mickey's club Risk.
Some days, I didn't know how I was going to make it to the next morning.
In a way, I'm fighting because of my mom. She wanted me to find something in my life.
I want everyone to recognize and know me. I don't want bodyguards. I want to be able to go out into the masses.
I want to leave this sport with a little bit of my brains left.
People want to see blood. They don't care anymore if you can box for 12 rounds. They don't appreciate the art of the good boxer.
Let's go, champ' started as a way to motivate myself.
I had to fight in K-1 in Japan to make a living between fighting and doing commercial work over there, and it's been a roller coaster in a sense, but it's been a smooth one.
My weight blew up to 400 lbs and I couldn't bend down to tie my own shoelaces.
After the Klitschko fight they left me for dead in the hospital. It was just my wife and me - we were alone and had no money.
I know how to sell a fight.
I was able to battle back through depression.
Girls in Brownsville don't play.
I'm superstitious about my hair. I don't like to cut it before big fights.
I am from the ghetto.
Sometimes, I think to myself, 'Damn, I don't speak as well as I used to.'
I know there are certain powers who would rather have the champions be Eastern European because there's more money in it.
I've been through a lot of ups and downs. But in the process, I won two heavyweight titles. Not many men can say that.
I grew up watching the careers of Tyson and Bowe. I always wanted to follow in their footsteps in becoming a world champion. But I've always been my own man.
It's a hard sport. You don't come from a rich family wanting to be a boxer. Rich kids get hit in the face, they go home. Poor kids come back. They see boxing as a way out.
I feel like winning the title was a curse. It was something that I always wanted to achieve. I got it, but it didn't turn out the way I thought. The business side of it has not been very good.
Honestly, I feel better at 35 than I did at 25.
People want to see knockouts.
It took me years on top of years to grow thick skin and it took me many hurtful days.
No guy with a Ph.D. is going to beat me.
After I won but then lost my world title I ended up with no money. Then my dad died in prison.
I'm the people's champion.
I was born asthmatic so came into boxing with deficiencies.
A doctor prescribed testosterone for depression and it truly helped me.
