Siarhei Liakhovich vs. Shannon Briggs

Siarhei Liakhovich 238 lbs lost to Shannon Briggs 268 lbs by TKO at 2:59 in round 12 of 12

• Date: 2006-11-04
• Location: Chase Field, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
• Referee: Robert Ferrara
• Judge: Dennis Nelson 106-103
• Judge: Chris Wilson 105-104
• Judge: Jose Hiram Rivera 106-103

• WBO World Heavyweight Title (1st defense by Liakhovich)

Notes

• Bout became official on August 25 (some sources claim September 5).
• Liakhovich was said to not have recovered well enough from the hard Brewster fight.
• Briggs trailing, won the fight with one second left, reminiscent of Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor I.
• Liakohvich down twice in round twelve
• The second knockdown led to Liakhovich falling through the ropes.
• If the referee had allowed the fight to continue after the second knockdown and Liakhovich had come back into the ring within 20 seconds, he would have kept his title with a draw.
• Commentator Joe Tessitore called it "a very distasteful heavyweight bout".
• This is how Belarussian reporter Pavel Baranov described the fight: "Throughout the entire twelve rounds, Liakhovich boxed as if under a tranquilizer - slowly, always letting heavy Briggs catch his breath. There was such a striking contrast with the previous golden fight. As a result, everything turned out so strange that almost half of the forum chatters (including overseas ones) confidently assumed the behind-the-scenes work of Siarhei's boss - that same black eccentric guy with a nightmarish hairstyle who cheerfully waved Belarussian flag, walking around the ring before the fight."

Preceded by: Brewster vs. Liakhovich

WBO Heavyweight Title Fight # 34

Succeeded by: Briggs vs. Ibragimov