All Episodes
Nov. 21, 2016 - The Joe Rogan Experience
01:44:22
Joe Rogan Experience #875 - Shannon Briggs
Participants
Main voices
j
joe rogan
21:09
s
shannon briggs
01:21:17
| Copy link to current segment

Speaker Time Text
joe rogan
Two, one.
Boom!
And we're live.
shannon briggs
Let's go champ.
joe rogan
The champ!
shannon briggs
Let's go champ.
joe rogan
If you said anything else other than let's go champ is the first thing you said in the podcast, it would be a giant kiss.
shannon briggs
We had to start it off right.
It's the champ!
Shannon the Cannon!
Let's go champ!
joe rogan
How did you get started doing this, man?
You would think that something as simple as let's go champ.
That would catch on.
How would that be so inspirational?
I see your videos every day.
I get pumped up.
shannon briggs
Thank you, brother.
Thank you.
I appreciate it.
By the way, pleasure meeting you finally.
joe rogan
Pleasure meeting you too, man.
shannon briggs
You too as well, champ.
Let's go champ.
I appreciate this.
I made it.
I'm here with you.
joe rogan
Your videos on Instagram get me fired up.
unidentified
Thank you.
joe rogan
You're positive.
unidentified
Thank you.
joe rogan
They're exciting.
They're fun.
shannon briggs
They're real.
joe rogan
It's infectious.
shannon briggs
It's real.
It's real.
joe rogan
It is real.
shannon briggs
It's real, me.
It's me.
joe rogan
Dude, I've been a fan of yours as a boxer for a long time.
shannon briggs
Thank you, brother.
joe rogan
But I love how you kind of reinvented yourself over the last few years.
shannon briggs
Mm.
joe rogan
You know what I mean?
Like, you've reinvented yourself with social media.
Is this something you've always been doing privately?
You've been talking like this privately?
shannon briggs
100%.
Like, you know, honestly, like, this is the first time in my life, I'm 44, I'll be 45 in December 4th in a few weeks.
This is the first time in my life, honestly, that I'm really being myself.
I'm not putting on a show for anybody.
I'm just showing my real personality, which I'm silly.
I'm goofy.
I'm serious at times.
I'm political at times.
I'm a family man.
I'm diverse.
You know, I love hip hop, but I don't like listening to rap lyrics.
So I just listen to beats.
So this is who I am.
And with the, you know, with the But thanks to social media, I'm able to just show it to the world.
And I let my guard down, to be honest with you.
I'm finally being like, I'm not trying to be a tough guy because I'm a boxer.
I'm just being who I am.
joe rogan
Well, it's fun, man.
You know, you can tell because there's no other forum where you would just have a camera pointed at you.
You're just saying, champ!
unidentified
Champ!
joe rogan
And you're like mixing smoothies and talking about organic blueberries and all the healthy shit you eat.
shannon briggs
That's it, champ.
joe rogan
It's very exciting, man.
You'll do a video just telling people to drink water.
shannon briggs
That's true.
joe rogan
And you're like, fuck, man, I'm gonna go out and drink some water.
shannon briggs
I'm serious.
You gotta stay hydrated, champ.
I listen to you as well, and you have a war on sugar.
They say a war on sugar.
I'm totally for that, because It destroys you, man.
It destroys you at every level, mentally, physically.
It just takes away from you.
So I try to tell people, you know, eating right and changing my diet changed my life.
I was, like, finished.
I was, like, gone.
I was 403 pounds.
I was out of boxing.
I was financially in ruin.
Changing my diet just totally made my life different.
joe rogan
Well, I love your story because I love a success story, but almost more than a success story, I love a success, then fuck your life up, then get it back together again story.
I like that because there's a certain amount of enthusiasm that you have that you know that you've seen dark days, but now you're back.
And that's part of the fun of what you're doing.
You know what I mean?
shannon briggs
Thank you, thank you.
joe rogan
The sugar thing is a fucked up thing, isn't it?
shannon briggs
Totally.
joe rogan
That most people don't know.
shannon briggs
That's what screwed me up.
I told you, I was like, everyday McDonald's.
And this is after years of eating right and just letting myself go.
And that's a whole other story.
But I fell into deep depression.
I was just eating junk food all the time and Krispy Kreme.
And sugar was just part of my diet.
And it was making me crazy mentally.
I was suffering from depression.
I wanted to off myself for over two years.
I was contemplating Suicide Champ.
I was just like to the point I didn't have a clue what to do.
Although financially I was doing well.
I had got out of boxing.
I had got a job.
But I was just...
I had seen so much darkness in my life from a child.
And it was overwhelming because what I did, Joe, was throughout my life I would store things and put them in the closet.
I was told very young that you got to be the man of the house.
You gotta, you know, get over it.
So doing that when you're 11 years old, 12 years old, 8 years old, that becomes, you know, over time, I just, you know, it snapped.
joe rogan
Too much pressure.
shannon briggs
Yeah, it was just too much pressure.
And then, you know, I'm a kid, honestly, fighting guys like George Foreman, Lennox Lewis, with very little amateur experience.
This is all happening fast.
So it just became, at the point, you know, when I got older, that was just like, hold on.
joe rogan
Well, when you were young, you were so hyped up.
You had this crazy look with the dreadlocks, and Teddy Atlas was behind you, and all these big names, and everybody was like, Shannon the Cannon Briggs is the next big thing.
And you had a lot of success, but there were some people that felt like you didn't live up to your full potential.
And then you went away for a little bit, and then you came back, and you look better than ever.
shannon briggs
Right, right.
Honestly, this is like my third comeback.
Maybe fourth, to be honest with you.
This is like my fourth comeback.
Because I've always had a foot in boxing, but it was really something that I was really dedicated to or had the right team behind me.
It was always something that was to get me by, to make a living.
And it's finally come to the point now, at 44, being 45, I think about three, four years ago, when I got to the point where I was like, you know what?
I know I'm good at this.
This is a talent that I've had because I've had one foot in and one foot out and I've done great.
You know, they say you can't cheat boxing.
I won the heavyweight title twice.
You know what I'm saying?
Not that I cheated boxing, but I never...
I had the stability and the deep backing.
I had a team behind me, don't get me wrong, financially.
But I wouldn't say they were for my best interest in a sense, whereas it was a marketing.
I could bring in big money from investors and stuff like that.
But then it got to the point where I was like, you know what, Shannon, I'm better than that.
But I wasn't given the opportunity to have a real training situation.
I was on my own for a long time.
I've really been on my own, if you look at it since like 1995, when me and Teddy Atlas split.
I've basically been on my own with different trainers and different promoters and really no management.
Just doing what I had to do to make a living.
joe rogan
When you look back on your career, and you look back especially in the early days when there was so much hype behind you.
I mean, you were the next big thing out of Brownsville.
You were this guy that everybody was looking forward to.
This is going to be the next big heavyweight.
Is that too much pressure in a sense in a lot of ways?
Do you almost like not train a hundred percent to give yourself some excuses?
Is that possible?
unidentified
It's possible I guess for other people wasn't for me What was what was going on for you back then?
joe rogan
Like what was that like to be that young up-and-coming prospect with all those eyes on them, right?
shannon briggs
That wasn't really it was overwhelming in a sense It was fun, don't get me wrong, but it was overwhelming in a sense where it's like, I knew I wasn't ready.
I had a very limited amateur background.
From day one, I was put on the top level.
I mean, I had 10 amateur fights.
I was on the USA team.
I fought Felix Zavone, who had 300 fights, when I had 18 amateur fights on ABC Wild World of Sports.
This was a little overwhelming for me.
I mean, 18 amateur fights, and here I'm fighting a guy, a gold medalist.
joe rogan
Right.
shannon briggs
But, you know, it happened.
So I kind of started out young knowing that, you know what, you're going to be on a big screen.
You're going to be out there, although you're not prepared.
joe rogan
So you felt like you were always playing catch-up?
shannon briggs
Always.
Until the last couple years where I was home making videos and had time to get in shape.
You know, I haven't had a drink in over five years.
I started drinking when I was 13 years old.
You know what I mean?
I was 13 years old, I was drinking.
I was homeless from when I was 13 to about 20 years old.
Living here and there.
So I've been on my own since basically since I was a kid, you know what I mean?
So when I was put on the amateur top level, I've always been in a situation where besides playing catch up, I'm on the big screen and I'm not ready.
But I gotta do the best I can.
And I've always done that.
And that's what I try to tell people.
Do the best you can.
You know what I mean?
Do the best you can because you never know.
joe rogan
But that I'm not ready thing seems to have been a constant theme.
Like that was always in the back of your head?
shannon briggs
Right.
100%.
And that was confidence.
That's what confidence is.
If you go into any fight saying, damn, I'm not ready, you already have defeated.
And I was so talented that I could still overcome.
You know?
unidentified
Right.
shannon briggs
I fought George Foreman basically on my own.
I was in with Teddy.
We had split.
I met a guy down in, not a guy, a friend of mine is now, Carlos Abuene, and we trained for about eight weeks, and here I was battling George Foreman and got a close decision, but here I was, I didn't get knocked out, and I was happy with that, and I became the linear heavyweight champion.
I was like, wow, you know?
unidentified
What is it like to beat George Foreman?
joe rogan
Unimaginable.
There's a Mount Rushmore of boxing when it comes to the heavyweight division.
For sure, George Foreman's on it.
shannon briggs
Yeah, yeah.
Great guy.
Great guy.
joe rogan
It must have been a trip, too, to just be looking at him on the other side of the ring.
shannon briggs
It was.
You know, again, I wasn't ready, but I was there.
You know, I wasn't ready confidence-wise.
You know, I just met the trainer.
We, you know, got with him.
He spoke no English.
All he would tell me is, give me a jump rope and say jump.
I jump rope, you know what I mean?
joe rogan
He spoke no English.
shannon briggs
I spoke very little English, and I speak very little Spanish, but I understood work, and we just worked, and I won the title.
joe rogan
Wow.
shannon briggs
Yeah, it was cool.
Vamos Campeon.
joe rogan
Vamos Campeon.
Is that where it came from?
shannon briggs
Yeah, pretty much.
Living in Miami, you know?
joe rogan
Now, when you split with Teddy Atlas, that was a big deal, too, because Teddy Atlas is like a notorious hardass.
I mean, he's the hardest of the hard.
I mean, even when you look at him, that big scar across his face, and he talks very brutally.
And he was open publicly, saying that he just didn't think that you were all in.
shannon briggs
Yeah, yeah.
That was...
That was a real down point in my life where I really felt like that was one of the times where suicide definitely came into play.
And I know that may sound crazy, but the reason why is because, you know, when I got with Teddy, I was like 19, 20 years old, and he was very overbearing in a sense where it's like, you know, I wanted to make it.
You know, I was homeless.
I wanted to make it.
I was willing to do anything he said or what the management said to make it because it was either that or die in prison.
My dad was in prison at the time where he eventually died.
My mom was on drugs.
She was on heroin and crack.
So it was like, okay, I got a manager now and I got an opportunity to have a trainer, a guy, Teddy Ellis, who used to train Mike Tyson.
So I gave myself to him in a sense where I was like, anything he says I'm going to do.
And in doing so, um...
I felt like when we split and he went publicly and said that about me, it hurt so bad, Joe, because I looked at him like a father figure.
Because Chetty spent many days, I think, you know, tearing me down so he could control, you know, my mind.
And that was cool, you know, whatever.
I knew, I didn't come to him as a kid.
I came to him as a 1920-old.
So when we split and he went publicly, I was just at a down point.
Everyone, I was undefeated.
I lost on HBO, Night of the Heavyweights.
It was a big, you know, montage about me and everything.
And here I was the highlight of the show and I got knocked out by Darren Wilson in the third round.
And when Teddy went out, I was just like, damn, you know, what happened to the days when it was like me and you?
Like, you know, I was with him for three, four, five years almost.
And it was so much...
Mental telling me that, you know, without me, you're nothing.
And you don't have this, you don't have that.
But then fight time, you can do it.
So it was such a mental, you know, puppet type of thing.
When we split, I contemplated committed suicide.
I was in my management's basement.
I had a shotgun.
I was like, man, you know what?
Because, I mean, I was just in a bad place and everyone turned it back on me.
I mean, the newspapers ripped me apart.
And Teddy's influence with the writers and You know, the New York City crowd was so strong, he had built a great relationship with...
I don't want to put anybody out there, but he had built great relationships with certain writers, and everybody assaulted me.
I mean, this is crazy.
It was war on Shannon Briggs.
So I survived that, though.
So that was part of me saying, this is why I tell people I'm the champ, because I've never spoken about this publicly.
This is my first time.
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
Let's go, champ.
shannon briggs
You know, but you could probably hear the emotion in my voice, but I apologize.
But, you know, the whole thing is like...
That's part of the reason why I call myself the champ.
You know what I mean?
Because although when I beat Foreman, people say, oh, you really lost and this and that third.
I won the title.
That wasn't winning.
Winning was doing that when my mom had just died on my birthday.
That was, to me, why I'm the champ.
Because I went out there with...
You know, without a stable trainer, and I still fought and win 12 rounds.
That's why I'm the champ.
Then, you know, those type of moments in my life is why I say I'm the champ.
Winning the title again with one second left on the clock with Lyakovich, that's not why I'm the champ.
No, because I fought that fight with an asthma attack.
You know, I was born asthmatic.
The fact that I'm even boxing is unreal.
I spent my childhood in the hospitals.
I hardly got an education.
I dropped out of high school in the ninth grade, Joe.
Part of my school, they used to go on trips, was to come visit me in school because of my asthma.
You know what I mean?
So for me to become heavyweight champion in the world two times and about to be three very soon, this is an accomplishment for not only myself, but for asthmatics and people who didn't give up.
Because I wanted to give up when Teddy left me.
I wanted to give up, champ.
joe rogan
Well, people who don't know boxing maybe don't know the legend of Teddy Atlas and how he directly connects to Customato and the early hard days of the Tyson camp.
You know, Teddy's a famous motivator, I would say, in a lot of ways.
But I think there's a certain amount of intoxication that comes from people telling you you're a great motivator and you start to believe it and buy it into yourself.
You remember the Tim Bradley fight?
Where he's in Tim Bradley's corner and he's like, We're firemen!
We fight fires!
What do firemen do?
They fight the fire!
shannon briggs
I love Teddy.
Listen, it's hard for me to talk about this now because this is before the fame for Teddy.
When we met Teddy, I think he was working in a liquor store.
I'm not sure.
No disrespect, but that's just a fact.
And he wasn't doing well financially, and my manager was like, you know what?
I spoke earlier about he was a guy who can go out and raise capital.
And he had this young kid from the same neighborhood as Mike Tyson.
I had just won the National, excuse me, the U.S. Olympic Championships, 92. And he was able to go out and get a guy and say, look, back my guy.
You know, like a racehorse.
You know, let's keep it real.
And he got this famous trainer to train his own racehorse.
And it was Teddy Alice.
And I submitted.
I was like, hey, whatever.
Listen, it was this or jail.
I said, Dad was in prison.
My stepdad was in prison.
Mom is in the streets.
And the manager was like, hey, you know what?
Sign with me.
I'm going to put your mom in rehab.
And I was like, hell yeah, okay?
He did everything he said he was going to do.
And he believed in Teddy.
And I believed in Teddy.
And Teddy, in the process, I watched him say, he told me I would never be a commentator because he doesn't feel it is right to talk about fighters.
This is what he told me.
joe rogan
He said he would never be a commentator.
shannon briggs
Never.
joe rogan
But of course he is a commentator.
shannon briggs
This was before he became a commentator.
joe rogan
Yeah, so he decided to become one.
shannon briggs
Right.
A lot of things that were said...
Basically, when we split and he went on television, New York won and said, hey, you know, he didn't think I had this in the third.
I was like, damn, all the times that we were winning, it was we.
When I lost that one time, it was me.
So, you know, I just, you know.
joe rogan
There's not an exact science to motivating people, right?
There's not an exact science to training and a lot of the relationship between a trainer and a fighter comes to, like, A perfect trainer for you might not be a perfect trainer for another guy.
You've got to have that bond together, and whether you do or you don't, you don't find out until you're in there, right?
Now, looking back as a man now, as an accomplished man, and you look back on your days when you were 19 or 20, what do you think would have been different?
What would you have done to motivate yourself or to talk to yourself differently back then?
shannon briggs
You know, what I'm doing now, to be honest with you, I honestly tell you, Joe, like, what I'm doing right now, I'm being free.
You know, everyone's not that type of fighter.
You know, he worked great for, I guess, certain people.
I'm not that type of guy.
Look, I'm a funny guy.
I like to have fun.
I like to laugh.
I like to bug out.
You know, I like to live.
You know, I'm happy.
I'm a happy guy.
Teddy is not—we different in that way.
You know what I'm saying?
And for a long time—look, for example, Ali.
unidentified
Ali.
shannon briggs
Ali trained to Archie Moore.
He trained to other trainers before he got to Dundee.
Dundee knew how to train Ali.
Let him do him.
And this is what I'm doing now.
People say, you know, my guys who work with me, Jesse Robertson, Stacey McKinley, the great Stacey McKinley, the great Jesse Robertson, these guys know how to train me now.
And although I'm 44, I'll be 45, I've learned later on in life how to just be me.
Be free.
This works for Shannon Briggs.
Win, lose, or draw, it works for Shannon Briggs.
Opposed to being someone else because someone else said, and I've done a lot of that.
And it became a syndrome where it's like, you know, I grew up in this with a manager, with a trainer and an investor.
It became like a process for me to go through it over and over and over again.
It's linked to the point where you're a man, champ.
joe rogan
Do you feel like all these people were trying to shape you and you were resisting it or you were confused by it?
shannon briggs
I was going along with the program, champ.
You know, whatever, you know, survival.
You know, go along with the program.
The hardest thing for me in my life was being homeless.
You know, being a homeless teenager and losing my home because it wasn't like something that I was used to.
I came home from school one day.
I was going to Bishop Lachlan High School and I came home and we were evicted.
And I looked in the peephole and I looked and the apartment was empty.
And I lived it all my life.
I was born and raised in Atlantic Towers, you know?
So that was a turning point for me.
I left that building that day a homeless teen, homeless kid.
And no more comic books, no more toys that I grew up, you know?
And now, people who look at me on the Gram, they see my personality.
You know what I'm saying?
They see the comic book side of me.
They see the television side of me.
Whereas, I lost my childhood that day.
When I went home and we were evicted, that day became like, I had to become a man that day.
I took the bus to my aunt's house and, you know, that night she kicked us out.
So my life was no longer had a color TV in my room and, you know, it was all about survival.
You know, I started getting in trouble and life took me to where I am now.
Wow.
joe rogan
And you were boxing at the time too?
shannon briggs
Nah, never boxing.
joe rogan
When did you start boxing?
unidentified
I started boxing when I was like 16, 17. So you started boxing as you were homeless?
shannon briggs
Yeah.
Wow.
joe rogan
And how were you doing that?
Like, where were you sleeping?
shannon briggs
Different places, sometimes an aunt's house, a cousin's house, a friend's house, you know, sometimes a shelter, wherever I could, to be honest with you.
joe rogan
And so it wasn't until you started having some success as a boxer that you stopped being homeless?
unidentified
Yeah.
shannon briggs
Yeah, well, I got an apartment.
Rest in peace, Jimmy O'Farrill, my savior.
I found his gym, Starrett City, when I was about 16 years old.
And I slept there many nights, too.
I would stay in the gym.
And that's kind of what came...
It's funny, because boxing always drew me back in.
Because...
I might get in trouble, go to jail, get arrested or whatever as a teen.
And if I wanted to get out of trouble, I'd have to go to get Jimmy O to hopefully sign for me for probation or something like that.
And then I'd have to use the gym as my residence.
I sleep in the gym, man.
It was freezing many nights, but it's what I had to do.
And so I was drawn back to boxing.
I always had the talent.
For instance, let me tell you this.
My first guy to ever give me some money was Shelly Finkel.
joe rogan
Wow.
shannon briggs
The first guy was like 17 years old, 18 years old.
He was looking for me.
He was crawling around gym to gym.
They said, that kid's homeless.
It got back to me.
And Shelly Finkel was looking for me.
I couldn't believe it because Shelly Finkel was, you know, Shelly Finkel.
joe rogan
Legendary boxing character.
shannon briggs
And I never forget, I swear to God, I went to see him.
I went to see him, Joe.
And he gave me five grand.
He was like, you're going to make it.
He said, I want, you know, seeing you, you know, with my team or whatever.
I was like, I couldn't believe it.
And I leave this building.
I leave his building.
I'm in the train station, Joe.
And I take out the money to get a token.
This is when they had the token booth.
And this had to be like 89, 90. And a guy seen me with the money.
I was homeless at the time.
He seen me trying to get a token.
I took out one of the hundreds.
He tried to rob me on the train.
He followed me.
I couldn't believe it.
I had never seen $5,000, let alone I had it in my pocket, right?
And I'm thinking this, right?
So he tries to rob me on a train.
unidentified
Bro, I beat this crap out of him.
shannon briggs
It was crazy, Chad.
joe rogan
Picked the wrong dude.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Now, when you went that long period of your life where you're boxing consistently and then you stopped for a while, what was going on there in your life?
shannon briggs
Let me see.
joe rogan
How long did you stop for?
shannon briggs
Just three.
joe rogan
How many years?
shannon briggs
A year here, two years here, three years here.
I wasn't consistent.
I wasn't consistent.
Again, man, it goes back to the confidence, you know?
Just never really had the confidence to really want to do it.
To just really feel like I had my feet solid in the ground.
And these last couple years gave me that.
It gave me the opportunity to just train nonstop.
Not that I'm making up for lost time, but I call it making up for lost time because I'm training every day nonstop.
I get my rest, of course, but I've dedicated my last four years to this.
joe rogan
What made you decide to just clean everything up?
Eat healthy?
Stop drinking?
How did you make that decision to just stop and get it together?
shannon briggs
I was suicidal, champ.
I was like, it's over.
I had a daughter.
I had my baby girl.
I have two sons, Chan Briggs, my boy.
I love him to death.
Let's go, champ.
He's 19. My son, Caden Briggs, who's 10 years old.
I love him, too.
Let's go, chap.
And my baby girl, Chloe.
And she changed everything.
She's four now.
And it was four years ago.
I always relate everything to four years.
Four years ago, my life changed.
She came, and she was a spitting image of my mom.
And I was just like, that was it.
So when she came out, I could see my mom and her.
And it was like, my mom reincarnated.
I'm the only child.
You know, here it was.
I was back with my mother again.
I could see it.
It was an ear.
It was like a ghost.
And then I was fat.
I was depressed.
And I held it every day.
I sat on the couch with her every doctor for one year straight.
Like 364 days.
I kid you not.
I sat.
My wife would...
In the morning, I would just give it to my wife to breastfeed.
I held it every day.
And then it was like 364 days.
I was fat.
I was a balloon.
I'd get up only to get, like, food, you know?
And I'd eat a big bowl of, a box of cereal.
I kid you not.
I'd put the milk in the fridge.
I'd put a whole box in a big, huge bowl.
My friend called it the Unger Bunger Bowl.
And I'd sit there and I'd eat a whole box, you know?
And I would hold her all day.
And then finally one day I said, you know what, bro?
You're going to kill yourself.
And I couldn't imagine her in this world, you know what I'm saying, having to do things to survive that some women have to do, you know what I mean?
And just looking at her and the love for her, I got up and I started walking, man.
I started saying, let's go, champ.
Let's go, champ, you know?
I had no entourage, no more friends.
My money was gone.
I had an entourage at one point.
I thought they jacked the show from me.
I had friends.
I had cars.
I had a lot of that.
That all disappeared.
And it was just me and my baby girl and my family, my wife.
Alana, shout out to my babe.
Let's go, champ.
And it was just a lot of hurt and memories and anger.
And I was like, I got to fuel this, champ.
You got to put this in the right place.
And shout out to Teddy Atlas.
No disrespect.
I got nothing but love because I learned a lot from him.
Good and bad.
You know, I won't say bad, but the bad things that I survived, those things made me who I am today, and that's why I have a family.
That's why I'm able to, you know, be here with you today at 45 years old, because I'm strong, you feel me?
But one thing he told me, he told me a long time ago, 1992, he said, whatever your fuel is, whether it's anger, love, whatever, use it.
It may be for some people may say, oh, it's wrong because anger.
Some people may say, you know, oh, use positivity.
Use what you got to use.
You know what I'm saying?
Do what you got to do to get what you got to get.
And it was a lot of hurt and anger from my past.
From that situation, from other situations, other management, and, you know, I mean, I've been through so much, Champ, you know, I've been heavily involved with some of the biggest deals in probably this country's history, I kid you not.
Live Nation deal, I was involved with that.
I mean, one of the first reality shows, you look at The Contender, I was involved at the top level of things, you know, disappointments, things not happening, where I was heavily involved in, I got shagged.
So I was like, damn, you know what?
Four years ago, I was like, yo, you know what?
You've done everything, Shannon.
You've done business.
You did well.
You know, I didn't make money.
I haven't made much money in boxing.
You know, I'm around guys like British Bow and Holyfield every day, guys who've made hundreds of millions of dollars.
I'm lucky if I made $4 million, $5 million in boxing.
You know what I'm saying?
And the money I made, I've had...
It wasn't given to me, champ.
You know what I'm saying?
I've been shagged.
I'm going to keep it real with you.
I've been shagged.
So, you know, for me to...
I'm sorry I'm jumping around.
You know, I learned to use all that.
The feel from that.
The anger.
From getting shagged so many times.
Learning, champ, you're not a businessman.
You're a boxer.
Every time you was homeless.
Every time you was down and out.
Boxing saved you.
You ran back to boxing.
You was doing business.
You made this, you made that.
But boxing...
joe rogan
Having peace with that balancing act, like the negative moments that you had in your life not defining you and figuring out how to use them for fuel, figuring out how to look back on those negative moments and don't wallow in them but say that's never gonna happen again.
That's the great balancing act of the successful fighter because there's not a single successful fighter that hasn't come from some kind of conflict.
shannon briggs
100%.
joe rogan
There's no other way.
shannon briggs
But you know, I think We do this.
Some of us do this in hopes there is a finish line.
The finish line is you want to retire with money.
You want to hopefully leave a name for yourself.
You know what I'm saying?
And you want to walk away with your brains.
You know what I'm saying?
So, for me, I'm trying to leave with my brains.
I'm trying to leave with some money.
You know what I'm saying?
And I'm trying to leave with a name.
And I'm using that fuel...
I'm using my past and my present because I got to tell you the truth.
Although there is some past hurting, you can probably hear when I talk about certain things, there's so much positivity.
There's so much great things that's happening right now that's surpassing the disappointments.
So much positivity is happening right now, Champ, all around the world.
People saying, let's go Champ.
I couldn't imagine it, Champ.
I wanted to commit suicide.
And now I'm walking everywhere I go, people going, Champ!
joe rogan
Dude, I got texts from everybody.
When we put on Instagram that you were coming on here, I got texts from everybody.
Michael Bisping, UFC middleweight champion.
He was like, I love that guy.
shannon briggs
Let's go champ.
joe rogan
That's my man.
So many people love you, man.
You are spreading so much fun and positivity through those posts.
shannon briggs
Honestly, Champ, there's two tanks.
There's the disappointments and the hurt, and then there's the reality that right now I'm alive.
I survived bad food.
I survived myself drinking, Champ.
Champ, listen, at one point, Joe, they had me on Deprico, Seroquel, Xanax, Zoloft, and Paxil.
joe rogan
All together?
shannon briggs
Not together, Champ, but they gave them to me.
Now, listen, I didn't take Deprico and Seroquel because I was like, come on, Champ.
unidentified
What is that stuff?
shannon briggs
It's like tranquilizers.
Jesus.
That's how bad I was.
joe rogan
They were trying to slow you down.
shannon briggs
They were trying to kill the champ.
You know what I'm saying?
joe rogan
Get this big killer and go to sleep.
shannon briggs
And I survived that.
That's why I'm the champ.
That's why I'm the champ.
Because I survived that.
It's overcome to be like, you know what?
I lost 160 pounds.
Look at me, champ.
joe rogan
You look great.
shannon briggs
Look at me, champ.
joe rogan
Goddamn.
shannon briggs
Look at me, champ.
And you're 44, almost 45. I'll be 45 in a week or two.
joe rogan
And people are ducking you like crazy.
shannon briggs
Man, they don't want no piece of the champ.
joe rogan
They don't want no piece of the champs.
David Hayes said he was all in.
He said he was all in.
shannon briggs
I'm sorry, I curse.
I apologize.
joe rogan
That's okay.
Curse away.
shannon briggs
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
David Hay was all in at one point.
shannon briggs
Yeah, soft.
joe rogan
Saw too many left hooks in the liver.
unidentified
Soft and a biscuit.
shannon briggs
Soft and a biscuit, yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
What happened?
shannon briggs
I went over to England, which I love, with my UK hat on.
joe rogan
You went over there just to fuck with him.
unidentified
Man, totally.
joe rogan
You got an apartment.
shannon briggs
Totally, totally.
Again, that's the feel.
That's the feel.
Like, honestly, I was down and out, champ.
Listen, so many days, you know, I was like, man, you know what?
I'm trying this thing, man, and no one's giving me a shot, and...
I'm like, you know what, man?
Maybe I should get a job.
I'm like, nah, you know what?
Then I woke up one day and guess what?
Snoop Dogg said, let's go, champ.
unidentified
Really?
shannon briggs
I swear to God.
joe rogan
I remember that.
He was smoking weed.
He was like, I'm fucking with you, champ.
Let's go, champ.
unidentified
Come on, champ.
shannon briggs
That was the night before.
joe rogan
I was like, bro.
shannon briggs
The night before, I was like, yo, bro.
You really trying, champ.
You have fights, man.
And maybe it's never going to happen for you.
You know what I mean?
I was like, yo.
And then I woke up like four or five in the morning.
Snoop Dogg was saying, let's go, champ.
I said, I'm back.
unidentified
I said I'm back!
joe rogan
Let's go champ!
Let's go champ!
shannon briggs
I said I'm back!
joe rogan
That was beautiful, man.
unidentified
Yeah, champ.
joe rogan
Well, you've done some crazy shit, too, though, man.
Like, especially with the Klitschkos.
shannon briggs
Yeah, soft.
He's softening the biscuits.
joe rogan
You've had a lot of fun videos, though.
Showing up, drinking his water, fucking with him.
shannon briggs
Yes.
joe rogan
You knocked him over when you were riding a boat.
He was on the paddleboard.
shannon briggs
I got him.
joe rogan
Chomp.
How long ago was the paddleboard incident?
shannon briggs
I don't even know.
I lost track of time, champ.
I was like two years, maybe.
joe rogan
But you couldn't get a fight with him?
shannon briggs
Nah, nah.
I've been chasing Klitschko, honestly, since 2005. I was supposed to fight him.
Honestly, we were supposed to fight.
He fought in New York City.
He was supposed to fight Shannon Briggs.
Everything was set to go.
And he wound up fighting Calvin Brock, who was from North Carolina.
I couldn't understand it, where we had...
We literally had a contract.
Yeah, it was a great fight.
It was going to sell out.
joe rogan
A lot of fans would have been crazy.
shannon briggs
All the time.
You know what I'm saying?
Because I'm bringing that.
joe rogan
That's what I come up with.
shannon briggs
He didn't want it because I was dangerous.
And that's what I'm going through right now.
They can say what they want about me, Joe.
This and a third.
Oh, he's crazy.
He's this.
But guess what?
I'm dangerous.
I've got tons of emails.
I'm not a snitch.
Listen, I've got tons of emails of guys with their managers saying, no, not right now.
He's too dangerous.
I've got Deontay Wilder.
Backed out of a fight with me for $2 million.
unidentified
He can't front.
shannon briggs
I got emails and everything.
Let's go, champ.
I'm getting excited, as you can tell.
joe rogan
Once you started calling him Beyonce, I was like, uh-oh.
shannon briggs
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
Champ went to DEFCON 4. He started calling him Beyonce Wilder.
shannon briggs
As you can see, the meter's rising now, champ.
The meter's rising now.
Now we talking about what I want to talk about, fights.
unidentified
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
Yeah.
shannon briggs
It's the champ and Joe Rogan.
joe rogan
Oh, man.
Yeah!
The Klitschko one was particularly hilarious because he was on that paddleboard.
There's nothing more humiliating than getting knocked over on a paddleboard when people are talking shit.
shannon briggs
And he still wouldn't fight me.
He still wouldn't fight me.
unidentified
Here it is right here.
shannon briggs
Look at him.
joe rogan
First of all, what is he doing out there on a paddleboard by himself?
shannon briggs
Which is stupid.
joe rogan
In the middle of nowhere, I mean, this is almost like a setup.
shannon briggs
Nah, it's stupid.
He does this every Wednesday.
joe rogan
Does he?
shannon briggs
Yeah, he does this every Wednesday.
Where?
unidentified
Where does he go?
shannon briggs
I got mine!
joe rogan
Where does he go?
shannon briggs
He's in intercoastal somewhere.
joe rogan
Where is that?
Is it Miami?
shannon briggs
Yeah, Fort Lauderdale.
That's Hollywood champ.
Shout out to Hollywood, Florida.
Best town in the world.
joe rogan
Does he live down there?
shannon briggs
Yeah, he live down there.
I live down there.
We all live down there.
joe rogan
And so he would stay on that paddleboard, go out in the middle of the ocean and be paddling.
And he would just be paddling around.
shannon briggs
Yeah, that's his exercise.
joe rogan
What a weird exercise.
shannon briggs
Yeah, he's a weirdo.
joe rogan
He seems like a strange guy.
shannon briggs
Yeah, he's weird.
That's how the beef started, Joe.
Shout out to Chris Lawrence, the heavyweight factory, who's the greatest guy on earth, honestly.
It wasn't for him.
This guy put the fuel, put the cash behind me.
I was flat on my face.
This guy came and was like, you know why I believe in you.
I was fat, depressed.
He seen me in a fresh market.
He was like, you know, damn.
I was like, you know.
He seen me.
I came back like seven, eight months later.
I came to his office.
I was like, yo, champ, what's up?
He was like, damn.
He called me a week later and was like, yeah, we should do something.
I was like, let's go champ.
And here we are today.
You know what I'm saying?
I've been traveling the world thanks to Chris.
And now I've actually been ordered, the WBA has ordered a fight between me and Lucas Brown.
And hopefully we can make that happen very, very soon.
joe rogan
I was seeing something on your Instagram that it's still not signed yet, though.
You're disappointed in that.
shannon briggs
Very disappointed.
joe rogan
Is Lucas Brown trying to avoid it?
Is there complications?
shannon briggs
You know what, Joe?
Honestly, I've been through so much in the last couple of years with Wilder, with Klitschko, with Hay.
I fought on Hay's undercard.
I went over to England.
Shout out to the UK. I love it.
My second home.
It was a big fuel injection behind what I'm doing right now because I went over there and I've never felt that type of love anywhere in the world for myself to go where we speak the same language, we speak their language, and Just to have the love, man.
It's just incredible.
Everywhere I go, let's go, champ.
It's just amazing, man.
That really put a lot into what I'm doing right now.
joe rogan
But you decided to go over there and get an apartment.
shannon briggs
Yeah, I had to.
I had to because I was flat on my ass, champ.
And I was trying to move up in the rankings.
I gave everybody a call.
Al Heyman.
Every Labella.
Everybody, the Cubans, I gave everybody a call.
I was like, yo, I'm trying to get back in the game.
Nobody believed in me.
Chris Lawrence called me and was like, yo, I believe in you.
And I was like, you know what, Chris?
He said, yo, you're a little crazy.
I said, I am.
I've been diagnosed a little crazy.
I suffer from PTSD. This is true.
You know what I'm saying?
But I'm exciting.
And I'm going to make it happen because I'm a believer.
Nothing can stop me, champ.
You look at me.
Nothing can stop me.
I don't care who you get.
Whoever say they can beat me, they lying.
Because when we put, when the bell ring, champ, I'm a whole different person because I'm charged.
Look at me.
Look at what I've been through.
Look what I'm telling to.
You can hear the emotion in my voice.
The pain's still there, champ.
joe rogan
I'm in!
shannon briggs
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
I'm in!
shannon briggs
Let's go, champ.
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
I don't understand why it's so hard to get you fights.
This is what drives me fucking crazy.
shannon briggs
Look at me.
unidentified
Look at me.
shannon briggs
And I'm crazy.
joe rogan
I believe that.
But if I was a promoter.
unidentified
I don't care.
shannon briggs
I don't care who I fight.
And I'm also not stupid.
I'm not going to fight fights for guys, for pennies.
That's meaningless.
That's going to beat me up.
I'm 44. I'll be 45. I already got so much limit on this body.
I'm a heavyweight.
I fought George Foreman, champ.
I fought Vitaly Klitschko, champ.
For free, by the way.
We'll talk about that later.
joe rogan
How is that free?
shannon briggs
No money down.
I fought Francois Botha.
Ray Mercer.
You feel me?
I fought some big punches.
George Foreman.
So for me, I'm not going...
I'm not going to fight every guy out there just to try to build myself.
I'm a former two-time heavyweight champion in the world.
That alone should get me a title fight.
That alone.
That's how it used to be.
Guys have come out of retirement from the beginning, from the Sullivan days, and came out of no fights and got a title fight.
joe rogan
What drives me crazy is you're so marketable.
That's what drives me crazy.
shannon briggs
The best ever.
joe rogan
If you were in the UFC... No promoter.
shannon briggs
The best ever.
joe rogan
They would be lining up fights for you left and right if you were in the UFC. Listen, champ.
shannon briggs
I know.
I know Dana.
Dana's my boy.
Now, that's another story in itself.
1993 or 4, Meyerowitz is his name, right?
joe rogan
Bob Meyerowitz.
shannon briggs
He sold the UFC to Dana and him, right?
unidentified
Yeah, in 2001. Call Rob right now.
shannon briggs
He tell you who his boy is, Shannon Briggs.
He was sitting on the couch with me waiting for Mark Roberts to come home to try to get Mark to go in with him with the UFC. Wow.
Let's go, champ.
Let's go, champ.
Sitting on the couch with Rob.
joe rogan
Well, boxing is hard to get fights lined up because there's so many different conflicting promoters and different, you know, everybody wants their piece of the pie.
And then it's hard to get fighters to agree to fight someone like you who's dangerous.
shannon briggs
Yeah, I'm dangerous.
I'm, you know, I'm fast.
I punch hard and I got a chin.
So, you know, they only count on one thing, that I run out of gas.
And I say this all the time, champ.
If your biggest asset is hoping that I run out of gas, you fucked up.
Excuse me, I apologize, boys and girls.
joe rogan
Don't apologize.
shannon briggs
You messed up.
Excuse me, I apologize, boys and girls.
You messed up.
If you're relying on me running out of gas, if you're going into a fight, talking about, man, I just hope you run out of gas, you already lost, champ.
You already lost.
joe rogan
Now, why are they worried that you're running out of gas?
Because I know that you've concentrated a lot on your cardio.
shannon briggs
Yes.
joe rogan
And it's one of the things you put on your Instagram.
You're always doing cardio.
You're constantly doing cardio.
shannon briggs
I'm cardio.
I was born with underdeveloped lungs.
I was born less than two pounds at birth.
My mom was on heroin.
When I was born.
joe rogan
Jesus.
shannon briggs
Yeah, so I came out the womb fighting to survive.
I didn't go home for seven, eight, nine months before when I was born.
So look at me now.
That's why I'm the champ, Joe.
That's why I'm the champ.
Because if you can overcome, you already the champ.
joe rogan
You had underdeveloped lungs and asthma.
shannon briggs
Yes.
All my life.
You can ask anybody I went to school with.
I went to Risen Christ Lutheran School in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
For seven years, then I went to IS-55, then I went to Bishop Lachlan High School, then I went to George Wingate, where I got dropped out.
joe rogan
Now what causes asthma?
People like me who don't have it, you know it's bad, but you don't know much about it.
What is it?
shannon briggs
I don't know, champ, but you know, looking back, like we lived, you know, my mom lived in the towers, but like, you know, Where my grandmom lived, on Pennsylvania Avenue, East New York.
You know, looking back, it was an old abandoned building that my aunt bought from the city for like $7, and they constructed.
I'm sure it had asbestos in it and that whole type of shit, you know, looking back.
But, you know, I grew up, man, in the hood, champ.
I grew up in the poor New York City, 1970s.
I remember everything, the blackout.
I was on the train by myself when I was nine years old.
You know, I grew up hard, you know what I mean?
joe rogan
So when you get an asthma attack, is it like...
shannon briggs
I was saying that to say asthma is really in the city, in the cities like that.
It's more in the cities.
Chicago, LA, I mean, you know, New York, shit like that.
joe rogan
So you think it might be related to environmental stuff?
Definitely.
shannon briggs
100%.
joe rogan
Now, what does it feel like when you get an asthma attack?
shannon briggs
Oh, it's the worst thing in the world.
It's like nothing you can ever imagine.
Because we take it for granted because we take oxygen for granted because it's just here for us.
But, you know, you can go without food and water.
I say it all the time for, you know, days to weeks.
But you can't go without oxygen for five minutes, four minutes, three minutes.
And that's what it's like.
It's just really you're dying.
That's the bottom line.
You're dying.
joe rogan
A friend of mine described it as, he said it's like trying to breathe through a straw.
It's like all of a sudden all you got is like a little straw hole.
shannon briggs
That's it.
joe rogan
Have you ever had that happen in a fight?
shannon briggs
A hundred times.
joe rogan
Really?
shannon briggs
Yes.
unidentified
Whoa.
Yeah.
joe rogan
What does that feel like?
shannon briggs
The worst.
It's the fear of panicking and, uh...
You start talking and coming up with things and believing and doing anything you can do.
That's why a lot of people are religious and a lot of people go to different things for something outside of themselves that they can hold on to or ask for help for.
You feel me?
Me, I'm a little different.
I know it's just me.
I got to deal with these lungs and I got to do what I got to do to expand them.
When I'm in a fight, if that feel anything comes overcome, so what?
Let's go champ.
joe rogan
Now when you have an attack, does it just take a while before it relaxes and comes back?
What is the feeling?
I mean, I know people take inhalers, and I guess inhalers dilate your lungs.
shannon briggs
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's like being in the water, you know, drowning almost, I guess, you know what I'm saying?
You're panicking, I guess, you know, you're suffering, you're trying to get that oxygen.
But, you know, it's something that I really, thanks to, you know, things that I'm doing now, my diet of first, and I really feel like I've overcome it.
joe rogan
So the diet, cutting out the sugar, eating really healthy.
shannon briggs
No dairy.
joe rogan
Nothing that causes inflammation.
shannon briggs
Yes.
joe rogan
That made a big factor.
shannon briggs
Inflammation is key.
Inflammation is key.
CBD, shout out.
joe rogan
Yeah, CBD is amazing, right?
shannon briggs
CBD is amazing.
Unreal.
joe rogan
Now, from doing that, you don't have any asthma attacks anymore?
shannon briggs
No.
Wow.
unidentified
That's amazing.
shannon briggs
I feel a great champ.
I feel like a man of steel.
I honestly do.
I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life, literally.
joe rogan
Have you ever done any breathing exercises?
shannon briggs
Have to.
You know, it's hard, Joe, because I'm a family man.
I got, you know, kids and no excuse, but I have a family to take care of, provide for, and I have a career.
So that's a lot of things people don't understand.
Like, I've always juggled both, you know, taking care of my family and myself and a boxing career.
And it's been crazy, but it's been an amazing ride, champ.
And where I'm at right now, ooh, let me tell you, boy, Joe, everywhere I go, Champ!
joe rogan
When did the social media thing kick in?
shannon briggs
My nephew Craig.
Shout out to Craig Brown.
Let's go champ!
My nephew Craig came about four years ago.
I had my first Instagram account.
It was just photos then.
I was like, you know what, man?
I'm going to lose this weight.
It sounds like a corny thing.
Everyone's doing little blogs, but I'm going to just do my own, even for myself.
I put it up.
I had nine followers, Champ.
It built to 2,000.
I was like, man, if I ever get to 5,000, man, I'll be there.
I never paid for the followers.
They went through this whole thing where...
They dropped everybody who would pay for the followers.
I wound up being like 5,000.
I was like, man, if I ever get to 10,000.
And then they came up with the video.
And Craig came to town.
I was like, yo, Craig, I'm going to work out every day and I want you to film it.
And we're going to put it on Instagram and see how it goes.
It just took off.
joe rogan
But it's just hilarious how much it's taken off.
shannon briggs
It's too much, champ.
joe rogan
When I tell people that you were going to be on, man, I'm telling you, not like anybody else that's ever been on.
They got a wave of people that got excited about it.
shannon briggs
I appreciate that.
Because they don't have a publicist, champ.
I do everything.
We do everything in-house, champ.
Which is just me and Craig and my family.
We do everything.
We don't have any marketing behind us, nothing.
We just out here grinding.
Fortunately, we've got the shot now for this WBA Heavyweight Championship.
It's been ordered.
As far as Brown and their team, they've been delaying.
I'm not sure if he's going to drop out and just give me the belt.
I'm not sure what's happening because we've been waiting for them to pull the trigger.
They said they were going to find a venue and everything there.
We talked about Australia.
They talked about China.
joe rogan
Who's the promoter?
shannon briggs
Well, you know, his management team and his lawyer, Leon Michaelis, are handling most of it.
But if they don't come up with a deal, champ, but basically...
I already feel like everybody's scared of me.
So I think they can just give me the belt.
Because I just want to fight Klitschko, to be honest with you.
Because I want to prove to the world that he's soft in a biscuit.
Because he really is.
I fought his brother with one arm for 12 rounds.
One arm for 12 rounds.
This happened in the first round, Joe.
joe rogan
You tore your bicep.
shannon briggs
In the first round, yeah, in the first round.
Not only tore the bicep, the tendon popped.
They had to go through both sides.
This was in the first round.
I took, like, unreal punches to the head.
I forgot how many numbers it was, but I took unreal punches to the head.
They left me for dead.
I didn't even get paid for the fight, champ.
joe rogan
Nah, what happened there?
How'd you not get paid?
shannon briggs
Listen, I started a promotional company called Golden Empire.
It was basically backdoored and changed to the empire.
We fought.
The company felt as though certain things that were allotted to me, I don't know.
They said I had a tab.
I don't know.
It was crazy, but the tab was never produced.
The company that I started basically wasn't my company anymore, and I was supposed to be giving shares.
This company wound up Trying to purchase EDC, Electric Daisy Carnival, through my introduction.
It got crazy.
It went public.
The night before my fight, the stock was up.
I had no shares.
I said, I'm not signing nothing until I know I'm guaranteed a purse.
It was crazy, champ.
This is what led to my depression.
This is why I went home after the fight and was like, yo, what happened here?
I fought Vitality Klitschko for 12 rounds.
I took ass from it.
I didn't even get paid.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
shannon briggs
And I was in court with them for eight months before I settled out on pennies on the dollar because I had to.
Take care of my family, champ.
And this is what drove me to pure depression.
But then I overcame that, and now I'm here with you.
joe rogan
How much did they fuck you out of?
shannon briggs
Champ, who knows?
Who knows?
I mean, the fight, and this is facts.
This is facts, champ.
Like they say in New York, facts.
You feel me?
Listen, it was the highest grossing fight as far as TV coverage in history, either one or two in German history, Shannon Briggs versus Vitaly Klitschko.
joe rogan
Well, he's a huge...
Huge star in Germany.
shannon briggs
And I went over there and I bought action.
And the people was like, yo, listen, this guy can sell.
We want to see this fight.
The ratings were unreal.
It was like the highest rating in history.
Champ, I didn't get one dollar.
joe rogan
That's so crazy.
shannon briggs
Not one dollar, Champ.
How could I not fall into depression?
But how could I not come out of it?
I've been fighting since day one, Champ.
Fight to breathe.
I've been fighting to breathe, champ.
joe rogan
So that was the last big bad moment.
shannon briggs
Yeah, that was harsh.
Yeah, I'm back to normal.
Yeah, that was harsh.
joe rogan
But you came out of it, man.
That's the beautiful thing about it.
You came out of it.
shannon briggs
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
No doubt.
joe rogan
Now, at 44, almost 45 years old, how much...
shannon briggs
Sagittarius, December 4th.
joe rogan
How much have you had to, like, alter your training?
Like, as you've gotten older, you've gotten wiser with it?
Because I remember there was something that Larry Holmes talked about a lot when he got older.
He's like, what he did that was smarter, he goes, I'm not training seven days a week anymore, six days a week.
He goes, I'll train four or five.
He goes, and I won't do three hours, I'll do an hour and a half.
And he still was able to maintain a very high level But understanding the limitations of his body.
shannon briggs
Yeah, shout out to Larry Holmes, who's always giving me nothing but great advice.
joe rogan
He's an assassin.
shannon briggs
The man.
One of the greatest of all times, if not the greatest heavyweight of all time.
joe rogan
He just had the unfortunate of being right after Muhammad Ali.
shannon briggs
100%.
joe rogan
People just didn't appreciate him or love him.
shannon briggs
100%.
But he could definitely get busy.
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
He was a great boxer.
shannon briggs
He's been giving me advice since the 90s.
I mean, early 90s.
He told me recently, he said, don't stop fighting.
He told me, don't stop fighting.
Whatever you do, don't stop.
He said, keep fighting.
I don't care what they tell you, win, lose, or draw.
He said, don't stop fighting.
I was like, really?
He was like, I'm telling you.
Don't fight to the end.
That's what we do.
He said, if I could have, I would have stayed fighting to the end.
joe rogan
I remember when Larry came back, when Mike Tyson went to jail, he's like, fuck it, I'm coming back.
Mike Tyson's locked up.
And he came back and he outboxed Ray Mercer.
And I was like, wow, look at Larry, man.
shannon briggs
That's right.
joe rogan
Just skill and talent and that jab.
He had like one of the most underrated jabs ever.
shannon briggs
The best.
The best.
joe rogan
So when you are now at 44 years age, you're healthier than ever before.
You take care of yourself better than ever before.
You look fantastic.
shannon briggs
Thank you, Jeff.
joe rogan
Have you altered your training at all?
Like, what have you done to make sure that everything is, you know, going smooth?
shannon briggs
Yeah, when I first came back, I was OD'ing, of course.
I was, like, again, trying to make up for lost time.
So I was, like, training every day, every day.
And the injuries were just coming in.
You know what I mean?
The Kiwis, this one, that one, L. Just going too hard.
Yeah, I was going too hard.
Then I met Dr. Buck at Whole Foods one day.
Shout out to Dr. Buck.
And he was like...
joe rogan
Who's Dr. Buck?
shannon briggs
He's a nice guy, man.
He's like, what is he?
Chinese doctor, Chinese medicine doctor.
And he gave me a great plan.
He was like, you know, champ, you should train three days, take a day off, train two days, take two days off, train four days, take three days off.
And I was like, why?
He was like, trust me, it'll work for you.
He was like, the body needs rest.
And I started doing that, champ, and it's been working for me great.
I feel better than ever, honestly.
I've never felt this strong.
I've just sparred day four yesterday.
Shout out to Trevor Bryant.
I've been coming heavyweight.
He gives me great work.
It wasn't for him.
I'm where I'm at thanks to him.
He's been training with me for the last three years.
I've been watching him train, sparring.
We sparred the other day.
I'm going to get you because he threw me in the eye, by the way.
But I'm still pretty.
Let's go, champ!
And, you know, I've been training, man.
I've been sparring.
I'm the fastest I've ever been.
I'm stronger than I've ever been.
I see everything.
You know what I mean?
In the ring.
When I was young, man, again, I was battling with...
I'm not supposed to be here.
unidentified
Right.
shannon briggs
Now I'm in there like, you're not supposed to be here.
unidentified
You feel me?
shannon briggs
You're not supposed to be here.
You know what I'm saying?
Y'all feel good, champ.
joe rogan
I get it now, man.
shannon briggs
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
I get it.
But it's all about getting yourself prepared for the moment where you can perform.
shannon briggs
Right.
joe rogan
And I think so many guys leave too much in the gym because they have this thing in their head that you can't do too much.
shannon briggs
Train smarter, not harder.
joe rogan
That is it, right?
And it's a balancing act.
shannon briggs
Train smarter, not harder.
joe rogan
Trying to find that balance between the You don't want to sell yourself short.
You don't want to not push hard enough to reach your potential.
But how do you figure out when you're in and when you're out?
How do you figure out how to reach that perfect potential?
Because only you know.
shannon briggs
You know, I was working with a guy, and I love him.
Shout out to Billy Beck.
And Billy Beck told me, he said, you know what, you got to once in a while push yourself to see how far you can go.
He said, you know you can run 15 miles, but can you run 20?
And I was like, damn.
So once in a while I do give myself that, you know what, what can you do?
I'm gonna try to make it up and down these stairs a hundred times.
You know what I mean?
I'm gonna do the best I can.
Just once in a blue.
Then I give it, you know, and I might do that again in three months or two months.
You gotta know your body too, champ.
You gotta be honest with yourself because I wasn't always honest with myself.
Because of asthma, I was having high anxiety when it came to running and when it came to pushing my lungs because this is something I've experienced all my life since birth.
I can't remember finishing school.
Because I was always in the hospital.
I grew up in St. Mary's in Brooklyn, St. John's in Brooklyn, Kings County in Brooklyn.
I grew up in the hospitals.
I can tell you what the children's playrooms look like.
You know what I'm saying?
I mean, kids would.
So I grew up in these places.
So for me, to become a boxer and have to use so much breathing, it's amazing.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm not trying to give myself a blowjob, but it's just the truth.
You know what I mean?
I mean, what other heavyweight and champion in history can honestly say they suffered from something with undeveloped lungs and became a champion?
Am I the greatest champion?
Hell no.
But could I be?
Possibly.
Because if I had the lungs that some of these guys had, who knows how good I might be.
I'm fast.
I hit hard.
I'm crazy.
I'm with whatever.
I'm with whatever, champ.
You know what I'm saying?
Joe, they haven't seen the best of me, to be honest with you, champ.
They've never seen the best of me.
No one has.
And that's why I'm back.
Because...
I don't want to leave this earth or wherever I'm going, the next level, the next dimension.
I don't want to go saying, man, I wish they had seen me, because I'm nice, Joe.
Honestly, those who really know me, I'm really good at this boxing thing.
I'm self-taught.
I watched Muhammad Ali and Ray Robinson, too.
I was blue in the face as a kid, and I mimicked them as a heavyweight.
joe rogan
You got one of the best left hooks to the liver.
shannon briggs
I got that from Chavez.
I almost got beyond.
There you go, let's go champ!
Shout out to Geraldo Gomez.
Geraldo Gomez, part of this comeback, my brother.
Yeah, that's definitely Chavez.
joe rogan
It's a stabbing left hook.
unidentified
I got it.
shannon briggs
Ooh, I go around here.
joe rogan
You get in there.
shannon briggs
I reach around.
joe rogan
Yeah, you get in there.
shannon briggs
I reach around, I reach around, I snatch it.
But shout out to, you know black people when I shout outs.
Mike McCallum.
joe rogan
Mike McCallum.
shannon briggs
I got that from him.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
shannon briggs
I met Mike when I was like 18 years old in Prospect Park.
joe rogan
Oh, wow.
I remember when he knocked out Donald Curry.
I was a huge Donald Curry fan.
I got so depressed, I had to go running.
I shut the TV off.
I was like, fuck.
He hit him with a left hook to the body and went upstairs.
Boom!
Knocked him out cold.
shannon briggs
I went, shit.
joe rogan
And I had to go running.
I ran and I said to myself, I'm never going to get depressed out of somebody else's loss ever again.
I was a kid.
I was so bummed out.
I was a huge Donald Curry fan.
shannon briggs
Mike taught me the hat, but I watch Chavez so much.
I watch Chavez so much that I feel like if we're heavyweight, I've got it perfect.
If I get you there, you can call it goodnight.
It might catch up to you later, though.
It might be chilling for a minute.
Next round, you'll be like, oh, shit.
unidentified
Yeah.
Gotcha!
joe rogan
Yeah, in there.
shannon briggs
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
Now, do you follow a strength and conditioning program?
Do you have a trainer that you work with for strength and conditioning?
shannon briggs
Yes, I work with different guys.
joe rogan
What kind of shit do you do?
shannon briggs
All type of shit, champ.
You name it.
I've been doing this for years.
I worked with Mackie Shellstone, champ.
unidentified
Oh, Mackie.
shannon briggs
Back in the days before this was popular.
I mean, he was back.
He worked with Spinks.
Don't get me wrong.
But I worked with Shilstone.
I've worked with guys.
This ain't nothing new to the champ.
unidentified
You feel me?
joe rogan
Well, Shilstone was the first guy that really became prominent as a strength conditioning coach for boxing.
shannon briggs
Tom Shaw.
I worked with the great Tom Shaw.
Tom Shaw is the man.
I worked with Duke Roos, man.
You know Duke Roos?
joe rogan
I know the name.
shannon briggs
Duke Roos.
I worked with Duke Roos out of New Orleans.
He's the best in the world.
Rod Gillis.
I worked with everybody, champ.
joe rogan
And Maggie Shilston was the guy that pumped Spinks up when he fought Larry Holmes.
shannon briggs
That's right.
joe rogan
He bulked him up a little bit, but didn't slow him down.
shannon briggs
That's right.
He had that speed, boy.
joe rogan
Didn't he work with Holyfield, too?
He worked with Holyfield as well, I think.
shannon briggs
No, I think he worked with Haney, Lee Haney.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
shannon briggs
He might have worked with Holy, though.
Holy's the man.
Holy worked with everybody, too.
Holy was the real guy who brought that into prominence as far as strength and conditioning and boxing, especially in boxing.
You know what I mean?
joe rogan
Well, he was one of the first guys where weightlifting became accepted.
shannon briggs
Exactly.
joe rogan
Because for the longest time, boxing trainers would tell you that weightlifting slows you down.
shannon briggs
That's right.
joe rogan
Which it kind of does because it makes you sore.
shannon briggs
This is true.
joe rogan
And then you don't perform as well in the gym.
But once you recover, then you're fast again.
shannon briggs
Yes.
joe rogan
So Holyfield was like one of the first guys to make that leap.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
To understand like, look, he's going to go from a cruiserweight to a heavyweight.
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
And he became a legit heavyweight.
shannon briggs
One of the best ever.
joe rogan
One of the best ever.
I mean, his performances against Mike Tyson.
shannon briggs
Unreal.
joe rogan
Come on, man.
That first fight in particular.
unidentified
How about Bo?
shannon briggs
How about him and Bo?
unidentified
Oh, what?
Sheesh.
shannon briggs
Him and Dokes.
Him and Dokes.
joe rogan
Yes.
shannon briggs
Come on.
unidentified
Oh, man.
joe rogan
The Dokes fight was crazy.
shannon briggs
You ain't seen me and him moving the other day, me and Holy?
unidentified
No.
shannon briggs
On Instagram?
Yeah, he still got it.
unidentified
He still got it.
joe rogan
He still got it.
shannon briggs
Holy like 50-something, but he got it.
joe rogan
Is he still fighting?
shannon briggs
No, he ain't fighting.
joe rogan
He stopped.
shannon briggs
Yeah, but he still got it, champ.
I was moving with him the other day.
joe rogan
Wow.
shannon briggs
He still got it.
joe rogan
Wow.
shannon briggs
Bo still.
Bo too.
Riddick Bo.
He in the gym with me every day.
joe rogan
Really?
shannon briggs
Every day.
Every day.
He lives in Florida.
He's a great guy.
joe rogan
Is Holyfield in Florida, too?
shannon briggs
Yes, he is.
joe rogan
Wow.
So he still trains all the time?
shannon briggs
Every day.
joe rogan
How come he doesn't fight anymore?
shannon briggs
He's chilling.
He's like, yo.
joe rogan
Just said enough is enough?
shannon briggs
We're good.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
So when you work with a strength and conditioning coach, what is a week in the life of Shannon Briggs when it comes to training?
Say if this fight gets signed and you know you're going to get started, how do you organize your weeks?
shannon briggs
I already started, but what I'm doing is basically I'm using a strength and conditioning day with boxing, a running day with boxing, a rest day, a strength and conditioning day with boxing, a run day, and then another run day.
joe rogan
Do you ever fuck with yoga?
shannon briggs
The best, yes.
unidentified
Do you?
shannon briggs
Christine, yeah, Christine is great, yeah.
joe rogan
So you got all kinds of stuff going on.
unidentified
Flexibility.
shannon briggs
I have to.
I'm doing everything I can do.
Possibly cryo machine.
You name it.
Hyperbaric chamber.
Everything I can do.
I'm looking for the edge.
Because everyone's there.
They got it.
I'm broke.
They got money.
So imagine what they got.
And now I'm scrambling to get everything I can get.
You know what I mean?
To get to the next level.
joe rogan
I know.
unidentified
I know.
joe rogan
I see it.
I see it.
I see it in you, man.
And me, like many other people, rooting for you.
shannon briggs
Thank you, champ.
joe rogan
It's frustrating when I see you getting close to these fights with guys like David Hay.
And then it falls apart.
shannon briggs
He is such a sucker.
joe rogan
What happened with him?
He said he was going to fight you.
shannon briggs
I went over to England Champ and they showed me nothing but love.
They seen the true character of who he really is and that he ain't really a good dude.
He's a businessman, but he's also a weird dude.
I shook his hand.
We said we had to go.
It would be a great fight.
Win, lose, or draw for either one of us.
Everything was said.
I did everything they needed me to do.
He was looking for another deal.
The truth of the matter is, I heard this from inside that he was like, he's too dangerous.
You know, that's just the bottom line, which is what they all say.
joe rogan
Well, he's a fairly small heavyweight.
shannon briggs
Yeah, I smashed him up.
That was an easy win for me.
That was a layup.
I was like, oh, look at him.
I'm going to smash.
And he was scared.
I was seeing it in his eyes.
I'm from Brownsville.
I got one thing.
I can smell when you're scared.
I'm from the same neighborhood as Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe.
I know when a man's scared.
I went up on him, Joe.
I looked in his eyes.
I seen his lips.
He was trembling.
He was scared.
I could smell it.
I was like, oh.
I said, this is a layup.
This is a layup, champ.
This is an easy one, champ.
Yeah!
joe rogan
What does he weigh?
He's not a heavy guy.
shannon briggs
Nah, I had that one, champ.
I could see me just snatching him and just ripping him up.
unidentified
Then he went vegan, too.
joe rogan
He went vegan, so he lost even more weight, probably.
shannon briggs
Oh, yeah, exactly.
unidentified
I'm eating bulls and cows and all types of dinosaurs.
shannon briggs
I'm a straight animal!
joe rogan
What is your diet like?
How do you organize your diet?
shannon briggs
Organic everything, you know what I'm saying?
Just to try to, you know...
Camp it out at Whole Foods.
They know me well, you know what I'm saying?
They should be sponsoring me.
Shout out to Whole Foods.
I'm there every day.
It's $150 to $200 a day.
For the family, yeah.
It's every day.
Every day for the last four years we've been eating from Whole Foods.
Whole Foods is not cheap.
joe rogan
It's not cheap.
shannon briggs
150 to 200 every day is bad.
And I'm not bragging.
I'm actually complaining.
But that's what it took because no sugar.
I'm eating right.
I use coconut sugar.
You know what I'm saying?
I just tried to I do the best I can, considering I'm not a nutritionist.
I live on my iPhone.
As you can tell, I'm always posting.
I'm always looking for new recipes or the next edge.
You know what I'm saying?
The best I can for myself.
So I eat fairly well organic meats.
I don't eat pork.
I don't eat shellfish.
No dairy.
You know what I mean?
I'm just keeping it as best I can.
joe rogan
Do you get your blood work monitored?
shannon briggs
I do that as well, yeah.
You know, I try to keep my levels where they need to be.
joe rogan
Do you supplement?
Do you take vitamins?
shannon briggs
No, unfortunately, not right now.
Some CBD that I've been, you know, and I was ahead of the game with that too, champ, but I'm not trying to give myself a blowjob, but I was suffering from depression, champ, and I was fortunate to, I went and got like 10 different MRIs, and I was like, what's wrong with me?
I'm always depressed.
I'm always feeling like, you know, I feel anxiety overcoming me, and I was given this and that, and then I was I picked the CBD five years ago, four years ago in a life-changing experience, you know what I mean?
But I'm here, champ.
unidentified
I'm here.
joe rogan
Well, CBD, it's an interesting thing because it's a part of marijuana, but it's not psychoactive.
shannon briggs
Not at all.
joe rogan
So a lot of people, they hear about it and they get worried about it.
They feel like it's drugs.
shannon briggs
Yes.
joe rogan
But it has nothing to do with that.
It's like one of the beneficial parts of the plant.
It just eliminates inflammation.
And for people that have arthritis or all kinds of other injuries or just hard training like you're doing.
shannon briggs
And I was drinking since I was a kid, you know what I mean, honestly.
And I had a family member that was a marijuana smoker.
This person was abusive to me.
Very abusive, physically and mentally.
So the smell of marijuana was something that always reminded me of those times as a child, growing up.
So I never was attracted to weed, ever.
But drinking was my game, which was worse.
I was drinking since I was a kid and I shouldn't have been.
They let me down some dark days.
joe rogan
Were you drinking during training camps?
shannon briggs
Not really.
I was never that type of drinker, but after a fight, you know, celebration, Heineken and Hennessy was, you know, chasing and just being, you know, a kid.
joe rogan
Yeah.
shannon briggs
Being an idiot.
Not a kid, being an idiot.
joe rogan
And how did you get off it?
shannon briggs
My daughter, man, you know, my daughter, you know, I was taking, like I said, I was taking the different antidepressants and they gave me Xanax as well and My mom was a heroin addict, like I told you.
She died on my birthday of an overdose.
And I said, if I was ever hooked on drugs, I'd rather die than be a slave or hooked on something.
I remember not taking the Xanax for a couple days and just having the jitters.
And I was like, yo.
This is horrible.
And that happened.
That went on for like six months.
And I was blessed when I was introduced to CBD because my life changed.
I went from not knowing what I was going to do and fearful to calming down.
And this was all from my past.
So many things happened to me as a kid.
I don't need to harp on, but my childhood was rough.
And people don't realize how much kids internalize and become adults.
A broken kid is the worst adult.
joe rogan
It forms you.
shannon briggs
Yeah, it forms you.
And when I got Money Champ, I was 20 years old.
My manager, you know, moved me out to Jersey.
I was living in South Orange first.
West Orange, big mansion.
You know what I'm saying?
I always lived in a nice house.
I had a car.
But I had no money.
But I had the things that, you know what I'm saying?
To me, I made it.
I had a credit card.
I could get clothes.
All I had to do was fight.
So I had a nice thing going.
But I wasn't really dealing with the fact that my mom was on drugs.
My dad was in jail.
You know what I'm saying?
joe rogan
You weren't at peace.
shannon briggs
I wasn't nowhere near peace.
And that's what yoga's done for me.
Yoga has done that for me.
People don't know, they see the crazy side of me.
Like, I'm like the spiritual crazy warrior.
Don't even say spiritual, because I'm not even spiritual.
I'm just like the crazy warrior.
But I get centered when I have to.
And that's what I'm learning.
Like, I never knew how to turn on the Let's Go Champ.
I tell everyone listen there is a champion with all of us people see me hype how I go from that's me turning on the champ champ That's me turning on the champ because I didn't know how to do that That's why I said I'm in the best shape ever because now I can zone out I was on my way over here champ in the car I was like damn.
I'm nervous.
Let me tell you why when I was fat and depressed and down and out I was watching you and I said damn I need to get my shit together.
And to do that, one day I'll be on Joe Rogan's show.
I'm not bullshitting you.
Anybody can say whatever they want to say.
I'm sitting to be honest with you.
So on the way over here, I was mad nervous.
But I was like, let's go, champ.
joe rogan
No need to be nervous, man.
You know one of the things I love about you, too?
You push that positivity on other people, and you want them to be positive, too.
It's not just about you.
You call everybody champ.
Everybody's a champ.
They're all smiling.
You look at your videos.
That's real.
shannon briggs
That's I'm happy, man, because I'm happy to be alive, Joe.
I wanted to kill myself.
So many kids commit suicide around the world, champ.
I've got thousands of emails and texts.
Kid you not.
I can show you on my phone.
Thousands of emails and texts from people around the world.
I said, champ, I was suffering from depression, and I wanted to kill myself.
But thanks to you watching your videos, I'm motivated.
I'm not BSing you.
Thousands, over 15,000 of people telling me, champ, thank you, champ, thank you.
So this, for me, is amazing.
No publishers, no company behind me.
This is just me and Craig.
joe rogan
That's all you need.
shannon briggs
You feel me?
But that's why I feel good, champ.
Because I'm like, damn, if this was not real, organic, I'd be like, okay, I could be like, oh, you know, but this is just real.
joe rogan
Right.
It's not like a marketing gift.
shannon briggs
Nah, it's me, champ.
And I'm either going to win, lose, or draw, and ain't going to be no losing being who I'm going to be for once in my life.
joe rogan
Well, that's the beautiful thing about social media is that it lets you be you 100%.
Like, there's no director going, Shannon, I see what you're saying, but now I want something different from you.
unidentified
We've got the Let's Go Champ.
shannon briggs
Right, right, right.
So let's try.
I tell people when it comes to that, people say, oh, it's boring.
You know, you do the same thing on Thomas.
It's just me, Champ.
Yeah, I'm like, you know what?
You've watched it too much.
Come back later.
joe rogan
Yes, yes!
shannon briggs
Come back later, Champ.
joe rogan
That's exactly.
I tell people that about my podcast, you know?
Man, I'm tired of listening to you.
Take some time off.
I get tired of me too.
shannon briggs
Let's go chat.
Let's go, Chad.
joe rogan
Take some time off!
shannon briggs
That's right.
joe rogan
I'm not changing shit.
Just relax.
shannon briggs
Man, Joe, I'm happy to be here.
I ain't gonna lie to you, Chad.
joe rogan
I'm happy to be here, man.
unidentified
I'm happy to be here.
shannon briggs
Man, this feels good, man, for real.
I needed to vent, too, as you can hear.
You know what I mean?
I needed to vent a little bit about the Alex thing.
And not that, you know what I mean?
I held it in all this time because it's fuel.
It's fuel.
I ain't gonna lie.
You know, I watched him many days.
I said, damn, man, like, you know, why he threw me under the bus like that?
And you know what I mean?
It hurt.
So now I spoke about it.
joe rogan
He's a hard man.
shannon briggs
He's a hard man.
By the way, I got a huge article coming out for ESPN. By Bryn Jonathan Butler.
It's unreal.
For him to do this piece, he's the guy who's done some amazing pieces, champ.
Mike Tyson, Tupac.
He's done some amazing pieces.
He's got a piece coming out that's going to be unreal into the mud.
Not that I'm plugging him, but I just want you to know this is going to be unreal.
joe rogan
Beautiful.
It's going to be on ESPN? Yeah, the ESPN. It's going to be sick.
That's giant.
There's a lot of momentum in your side.
It's just a matter of getting a fight signed.
The heavyweight division right now is pretty exciting.
shannon briggs
The fight's done.
I'm just saying, for Brown and those people to act like they were going to grab the bull by the horn, I'm ready now.
I'm ready now.
I don't want no more delays.
I don't want to play with this boy.
I'm not calling him a boy.
I don't want to play with this man, this young man.
I don't want to play with him.
I want the bell ring because he in my way.
joe rogan
I understand.
shannon briggs
But he's in my way.
And there's nothing...
People don't understand.
You can call me crazy, but that's okay.
Look, in my mind, this is like...
Already written.
Destiny.
I was out of shape.
I was delving out.
I wanted to kill myself.
And now I came back with nothing behind me but the people.
The people's chair everywhere I go.
He's in my way.
He's just like a tornado coming.
He's a road.
I'm going to tear him apart.
He's just in my way because I got a bigger picture, champ.
All the belts.
I want the people around the world.
Yeah, all the belts, champ.
I want people all around the world to be like, yo, hear my story.
I don't have a great record.
I've got like six or seven, five, six losses.
Who knows?
I had ups and downs.
I've never been considered a great, but I fought guys who will tell you on the low, man, he get busy.
Ask Lennox Lewis.
They'll tell you guys who know me, who boxing, ask Chris Bird.
They say, you know what?
I've never really seen Shannon.
They've never really seen Shannon.
I'm keeping it real.
They never see me.
They're going to see me.
When this fight gets done, they're going to see me.
They're going to see the real Shannon.
They're going to say, wow, we didn't know you had all that talent.
We didn't know.
Let's go, champ.
unidentified
They're gonna see it, champ.
shannon briggs
They're gonna see it for real.
This is a lot of suffering and pain, champ.
And a lot of love, too.
Because they're all around the world.
They're saying, let's go, champ.
And they're feeling the positivity.
And they're saying, you know what, champ?
We're behind you, man.
That's not happening in boxing, champ.
And that is another reason that's fueling me.
Look at the boxing.
Look at the state of the heavyweight division.
It was flat before me, champ.
Chrisco was doing nothing but stinking up the vision for years.
Grab hold.
Grab hold.
Come on, champ.
You're the heavyweight champion in the world.
You're supposed to be the biggest prize in sports.
You're supposed to be out there doing interviews.
You're supposed to be Muhammad Ali of the state.
Kids around the world are supposed to know who's the heavyweight champion in the world.
When I was out there trying to campaign, and even to this day, you ask somebody who's the heavyweight champion in the world, they don't even know.
joe rogan
Nobody knows.
shannon briggs
Nobody knows now.
joe rogan
And he was a white guy.
shannon briggs
Yeah, but ask them now.
They don't even know.
joe rogan
Nobody knows.
shannon briggs
Nobody knows.
Now, you go around, and people call me one thing, champ.
joe rogan
Yeah.
shannon briggs
They say, champ, when you're fighting.
joe rogan
Exactly.
shannon briggs
So that's what I'm talking about.
Bringing back the energy to the game.
Listen, people told me all the time, the people in the game.
And I hear people, you know, rag you.
I see on the comments, rag me to you and this and that third.
And I appreciate you, champ, for, you know, holding me down.
But listen to this, champ.
Listen to this, champ.
The people inside of boxing is one thing.
Inside of contact sports is one thing.
But when you got people who don't watch boxing...
Who don't never watch boxing and say, hey champ, I watch you champ.
It's social media.
It's social media.
You feel me?
joe rogan
100%.
shannon briggs
That's what's doing it.
So that's my goal.
That's my point.
The boxing people cool.
Not that I don't want them to know me.
I'm not trying to alienate them and say, oh no, fuck them.
I'm saying, that's cool.
I love y'all.
Oh, you don't like me.
I know I suck.
I'm this and the third.
But the outside people all around the world who don't watch boxing, the ladies, the kids, it's the champ, Shannon the Cannon, the kid.
Kids!
That's who I want.
I want because that's what I have right now.
Kids everywhere.
I came out of a place the other day, and a kid, I know he wasn't a boxing fan.
He said, hey champ!
I said, wow.
I felt good, champ.
I felt good, bro.
I was like, that was like a Wheaties moment, champ.
joe rogan
You feel me?
shannon briggs
I felt like a Wheaties moment.
Like, hey champ!
You know what I mean?
And that's what I want, man.
I want people to be excited about boxing because boxing saved my life.
Every time I left the game, champ, my life fell down.
joe rogan
Well, there was a long period of time while Klitschko was the heavyweight champion where literally no one could tell you outside of real hardcore boxing fans who the heavyweight champ was.
shannon briggs
In America, right.
joe rogan
That was never the case!
You would ask people, who's the heavyweight champion?
And they would, oh, it's Mike Tyson, it's Lennox Lewis, it's Evander Holyfield, whoever it was.
But for a long period, no one cared.
It was just such a boring style.
shannon briggs
Yeah, he didn't want to mix it up and put it on the line.
He was more concerned with his legacy, I guess, and playing it safe.
And you know what I mean?
I think it's like, if you look at wrestling or even MMA, you guys come back.
You guys fight and you lose.
Okay, you come back.
You fight again.
unidentified
Yeah.
shannon briggs
There's no set schedule one with these guys with boxing.
And then guys don't want to lose.
And then they fighting guys.
They fighting what I call pies.
They fighting pies just to stack up their record.
You know what I mean?
So they got great records.
And we all do it.
You got to pass.
It's the game.
Unfortunately, it's the game.
But if you were telling me, look, you can fight...
You can fight Klitschko, and win, lose, or draw, you're guaranteed going to fight another fight for $3 million.
You'd fight this guy all the time.
But what happens is when you lose, then you go back to making $500 a fight, $5,000 a fight.
So guys don't want to lose.
joe rogan
Right.
shannon briggs
It's just part of the game.
joe rogan
In boxing, the record, the winning record is so much more important than in MMA. In MMA, it's just about being exciting.
If a guy has some losses, nobody gives a shit.
shannon briggs
You know I 4K won, right?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Yeah, you did, right?
What was that like?
Getting leg kicked.
shannon briggs
The worst thing ever.
Never again.
The worst thing ever.
Who did you fight?
Erickson?
joe rogan
Tom Erickson.
shannon briggs
Tom Erickson.
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
Yeah.
shannon briggs
Well, I kicked the shit out of me, champ.
joe rogan
Yeah.
shannon briggs
I think I'm the first guy ever to scream in the history.
unidentified
Ah!
joe rogan
Did you train at all leg kicks?
unidentified
I did.
shannon briggs
Shit.
It was for nothing because he kicked the hell out of me.
joe rogan
He's a big fella.
shannon briggs
Oh, man.
I couldn't believe it.
It sounded like two bats hitting together.
I said, if he kicked me one more time, I gotta go down.
I can't take it.
I don't care.
I said, I can't take it.
If he, one more, he kicked me again.
Pow!
I said, that's it, that's it.
And I jabbed him to the body.
unidentified
Boof!
shannon briggs
And he looked at me, because I'm able to read fast.
You gotta be able to read within tenths of a second, milliseconds in boxing.
I read in his eyes that that wasn't that bad.
Like, he must have felt like...
It wasn't that strong of a punch.
He could come in.
He came in the punch at that point.
And when he came in the punch, I let the cannon go.
Left, right.
unidentified
Poof.
shannon briggs
Hit him, champ.
Got him on top of the head.
unidentified
Sheesh.
Let's go, champ.
shannon briggs
Got him, champ.
I get excited because I know the feeling now.
I've tapped in.
All these years I was playing with the game.
Now I finally tapped in because I've focused and concentrated on just doing this that now I know how to put it there.
I know how.
This is my gift.
This has been my gift.
I've had a rough life, but my gift is that I have a talent in something that I've always kind of ran from.
I've had my own reasons, but now I've got it.
I've channeled this.
I've channeled this shit.
joe rogan
How did the K-1 thing come about?
shannon briggs
Oh, man.
Herman Caicedo.
Shout out to Herman.
He, you know, me and the hustle, me and the struggle, trying to make some bread.
Man, I'm a businessman.
I'm a working man.
I'm a businessman.
I'm a working man.
And it's work.
You know what I mean?
I was going to fight in...
UFC! I came out to Vegas, champ.
Dana put me up at the prom or somewhere.
MG, he put me up in a suite.
He was talking about me fighting.
What's my boy's name?
The big white dude.
Back in the days.
I'm going to say around 2005, 2006. Randy Couture?
joe rogan
No.
Big white dude.
shannon briggs
Tall, tall, tall.
joe rogan
Tall white dude.
Tim Sylvia?
shannon briggs
No, give me one more.
joe rogan
Stefan Struve?
unidentified
No.
joe rogan
No.
How highly ranked was the guy?
shannon briggs
He was the one.
He became the champ.
joe rogan
Okay.
shannon briggs
He wanted me to fight him.
They put me in.
Flew me in.
Put me in.
Dana know me well.
joe rogan
It wasn't Tim Sylvia?
shannon briggs
Not Tim Sylvia.
joe rogan
It was before Tim Sylvia probably.
shannon briggs
It was a tall dude.
Real tall.
joe rogan
Or after other Tim Sylvia.
shannon briggs
Tall white dude.
He wound up fighting.
joe rogan
Tim Sylvia fought Ray Mercer and Ray Mercer knocked him out with one punch.
He fought Ray.
Oh, okay.
That's him.
Wait a minute.
Ray Mercer also fought...
shannon briggs
Ray Mercer ain't beat him.
joe rogan
No.
Ray Mercer fought Kimbo Slice and Kimbo guillotined him.
And then Ray Mercer fought Tim Sylvia.
And it was supposed to be a boxing match, but the Athletic Commission wouldn't sanction it for a boxing match because Tim Sylvia didn't have any boxing matches.
shannon briggs
Right.
I have to see his picture, though.
If I see a picture, I can tell you.
Tall, and his hair was hanging down, like, lying along.
He could box, though.
He could box, though.
The kid could box.
He had some good shit, though, with his hands.
I don't know of his name, but dude could get busy.
I was going to fight.
He asked me to fight him.
We were like, look, Herman was negotiating for me again.
He was like, yo, give us somebody a little easier.
Because they wanted me to fight, um, what's his name?
Not Mark Hunt.
The black brother.
What's his name?
He was fighting K1 for a while.
He fought UFC 2. Gary Goodridge?
Gary Goodridge.
joe rogan
Let's go champ.
shannon briggs
They wanted me to fight Goodridge champ.
Yup.
unidentified
Yup.
shannon briggs
Yeah champ.
I've been in the game champ.
joe rogan
So did you take any wrestling classes or anything?
shannon briggs
I did.
Listen.
You ready for this?
joe rogan
Yeah.
shannon briggs
You ready for this?
joe rogan
I'm ready.
shannon briggs
Let's go champ.
American top team.
Dan Lambert.
That's my boy.
Dan is my boy.
Dan is my boy, man.
Dan is my homie.
When they were in a storefront in Boca, no gym, a storefront in Boca, I went down there because they wanted me to teach them boxing.
That was like 2001. Wow.
And I started messing with them, and I was doing some Taekwondo, and I was doing MMA, you know, jiu-jitsu and all that, and it was kicking my ass, but I was loving it.
I was getting strong.
I was like, yo, this may be a great type of thing to cross up with the boxing, because when I'm in the clinches, you know what I'm saying?
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Big difference in the clinches, right?
shannon briggs
Huge, man.
That's why strength training is important.
joe rogan
Yeah.
shannon briggs
It's important for boxing now, and these days.
joe rogan
So what happened?
How come you never wound up doing an MMA fight?
shannon briggs
Besides not wanting to get my ass kicked...
joe rogan
Wrestling's hard on the body.
unidentified
Hard.
shannon briggs
Brutal.
joe rogan
On the joints, the neck, the back.
unidentified
Yeah.
shannon briggs
It'd be like me playing basketball.
I can't dribble.
I'm like the only black man in the world can't dribble basketball.
I can't catch a football, you know?
joe rogan
Wow.
So you just decided it's just not for you?
unidentified
Not safe.
shannon briggs
After that K1 experience, man, I tell you, champ, I was like, man...
You know, it's funny because I went back to the hotel and I was chilling.
I was laying in bed and I went to sleep.
I just had a little couple bruises.
And when I woke up, my entire both legs were black and blue.
I was like, I panicked.
I was like, oh, snap.
I was like, oh, shit.
I was like, yo, Herman, just get me out of here.
They paid me well, chap.
I might have made like, in over two years, I made a good chunk of change over there.
I went to IRS chasing me.
I got no bread.
I mean, it was fun.
It was fun.
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
So you decided one and done with K-1.
shannon briggs
Yeah, K-1 wasn't a thing for me.
But I love it.
I love watching it.
I think that the training was tremendous for me.
I was in the gym the other day.
What was his name?
Tyrone Sponge?
unidentified
Mm-hmm.
shannon briggs
That's the champ, for real.
joe rogan
Tyrone Sponge's a bad motherfucker.
shannon briggs
He's the man, for real.
Let's go, champ.
He said he's going to help me out with my kickboxing, you know what I mean?
Because I think he's definitely going to help my boxing.
joe rogan
Yeah, he's in the borderline.
He's been doing a lot of boxing matches and not exactly sure if he's going back to kickboxing.
He'll fight anybody, anywhere, anytime, though.
I mean, he's just waiting for the right contract, whether it's MMA or anything.
shannon briggs
He's a beast.
joe rogan
He's very talented.
shannon briggs
He's a beast.
joe rogan
Very smart dude, too.
He's on the ball.
shannon briggs
Yeah, I'm gonna be working with him for this fight as well.
joe rogan
Oh, beautiful.
So you said you're very close to purse bids.
So it's happening 100% whether this guy is in or not.
shannon briggs
If they give me the belt in a box, I'll take it.
I'd rather win it in the ring.
But I'm frustrated.
I ain't gonna lie to you, champ.
I'm very frustrated.
I'm trying to be happy about my situation because I am getting in a fight.
But again, the politics of boxing where the ups and downs, these managers are shifty and they're saying one thing and they're telling me the way.
I don't know why.
See, the whole thing with me is, like what happened with Hay and it's happened to me so many times, I live in fear that I'm going to get shagged.
Like, okay, what are they going to shag me with now?
Because they're delaying.
So what's next?
You know what I mean?
I'm expecting something.
If nothing happens, I'm hoping for the best, but I'm ready.
joe rogan
It's gotta be a weird situation for you, right?
shannon briggs
Yeah, it's all good, champ.
I'm the champ, and this is what they gotta do to try to keep me down.
joe rogan
Well, the heavyweight division right now is exciting, though.
shannon briggs
Yeah, it's pumping now, thanks to the champ.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's a big part of it.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
But there's a lot of good stuff happening, right?
shannon briggs
Yeah.
joe rogan
And what did you think about Ortiz's fight the other night?
shannon briggs
It was...
joe rogan
Shocking that he went the distance, right?
shannon briggs
No, not at all.
joe rogan
No?
shannon briggs
Not at all, because he fought Malik Scott, who was a guy who was in top shape.
Look at his Instagram.
Always training.
Always training.
joe rogan
Fought...
Very defensively.
shannon briggs
Very defensively, which is hard to beat a guy like that.
It's hard to knock out a guy who don't want to get knocked out, champ.
You feel me?
A guy say, I'm not getting knocked out, he's going to do whatever he can not to get knocked out.
Doesn't mean he's going to fight you back.
It means he ain't getting knocked out, and that's what he did.
No knock to Ortiz, but he did what he had to do.
It just happens.
joe rogan
There was once on Instagram where you're mocking Deontay Wilder's technique with his legs coming up off the ground when he was punching.
shannon briggs
I actually like him, but you know what?
joe rogan
You gotta do what you gotta do.
shannon briggs
Yeah, that, for real.
I like him, actually.
I think he can fight.
I think he's very talented.
I think he's dangerous to anybody, including myself.
He's a vicious puncher.
He's a wild puncher.
He's one of those bony strong.
You know, those bony dudes hit you, boy.
unidentified
Woo!
shannon briggs
You're finished.
You know what I mean?
So, he's dangerous.
He can punch.
You know, He kind of like, you know, not that he offended me because I don't give a shit, you know what I'm saying?
But he kind of took it like personal that I was coming after him.
And I wasn't, you know, I'm a jokester.
I like to have fun and bug out.
He kind of took it like a little bit like, oh, you know, this and I'm like, damn, I ain't like that.
You know what I'm saying?
I'm not a street dude, but I really could be whatever you want me to be because I'm from the streets, you know what I'm saying?
But I was like, don't do that, you know what I mean?
Because...
joe rogan
Try to hype up a fight.
shannon briggs
Yeah, yeah, that's what I do.
unidentified
I do.
shannon briggs
But I get busy.
If you touch me, if you put me to that point in the street anywhere, I'm gnome.
I'm not that type of person, but I'll defend the champ because I got to make it home to my babies.
I love him.
You feel me?
So I ain't gonna let nobody ever hurt the champ.
joe rogan
Did you ever see that video where Deontay Wilder boxed some internet troll?
shannon briggs
Beat the shit out of him?
Yeah, I seen that.
joe rogan
That guy's fucking crazy.
shannon briggs
Yeah, yeah.
I'm gonna knock Deontay Wilder out.
I'm going to knock out Lucas Brown and then I'm going to let Beyonce Wilder I'm going to let Beyonce put up his BC belt and I'm going to knock him flat.
Starch out.
Starch.
joe rogan
I would like to see that.
I would like to see the fight for sure.
shannon briggs
Yeah, let's go champ.
joe rogan
Yeah, let's go champ.
The hat is out.
shannon briggs
Yeah, exactly.
joe rogan
Now, when you're 45 years old in December...
shannon briggs
December 4th.
joe rogan
Realistically, how much more time do you think you're going to be fighting?
shannon briggs
After I knock out Brown, and hopefully I'll get the winner of Klitschko and Joshua, Anthony Joshua, who's a tremendous talent.
After that, I'll go after whoever has the belt, man.
I'm going to keep it.
Like Larry Holmes said, don't stop.
Larry told me don't stop.
He said, keep fighting.
That's what you do.
Make money.
Have fun.
Enjoy your life.
And who's having more fun than me?
Everywhere I go, champ, people will be all saying, have you happy.
They're motivated.
And that's, to me, for the first time in my life, giving me some purpose.
Other than making money, I've been struggling to make money since I came home from school and didn't have a place to live.
For once in my life, for once in my life, I'm doing something that's not involved, like, me using the money from a fight to buy a car and look fancy and, you know, hang out.
I'm just being myself.
I'm a bum.
Champ's a bum.
I don't have clothes.
You know what I'm saying?
I don't buy...
I refuse because that was part of my downfall.
You know, you know...
Wanting things, wanting material things, finding power and things like that to make myself feel good.
I'm going to go buy a new car.
I'm going to buy a chain.
I'm going to buy a hat.
I'm going to buy this expensive Fendi sweater.
Nah, the champ don't do none of that shit.
The champ dressed like a bum.
This is me, you know what I'm saying?
Because I'm not putting value in that anymore.
What I'm finding so amazing is that everywhere I go, people are saying, hey, champ, thanks for the videos, man.
We love you, man.
Can I get a picture?
Can I get a video?
Nothing can outdo that, champ, because I've had a little bit of money, never made a lot of money, like those guys with hundreds of millions of dollars, but I made a little bit of money for me to feel good, you know what I'm saying?
But I never felt love.
You know, my mom was in the streets trying to, you know, put a roof over my head.
I never had a dad, you know what I'm saying?
I never had a brother or sister.
I was basically on my own.
You know, if you look at my personality, you can tell I watch a lot of television.
I grew up reading comic books, you know, cartoons.
So I never had love.
And to have what I feel is love from people who genuinely don't know me and just see me and say, man, thank you.
The emails, that's more fulfilling than anything I've ever felt.
You feel me?
joe rogan
I do feel you.
I think it's important, man.
I think your message is important and what you're saying about about having all that bullshit all the material possessions and counting on it You know, I remember Chuck D talking about that once, you know It was during the height of when people had giant wheels on their fucking cars And he was like he was like I drive a Ford Explorer and he's like in I don't put any any I felt so sad that I was a slave to it.
shannon briggs
I feel so miserable when I think about the days that I spent money on, sweaters, cars, jewelry, bottles at the club.
I'm just like, damn, what was I doing?
joe rogan
It's a big thing.
shannon briggs
It's part of our culture because we never had shit.
So now we're like, you're feeling good because someone's admiring you for anything.
The admiration is what becomes intoxication.
For me, it was that as well.
I'm finding gratitude and things that...
I was smart, though, because I always wanted to keep a place, a roof over my head, and I'll put value in that as well.
But, you know, a lot of other things, too, was for showing off for other people.
And once I was able to get past that...
And that was, you know, part of me was cutting my hair, you know, having locks for 27 years.
And people, when I cut my hair, man, just the response from people was just, it was amazing.
Just the people would look at me like, wow, look at you.
You cut your hair, you're finished.
You'll never be nothing.
Boxing's over for you.
joe rogan
Why did they think it was over?
Because you cut your hair.
That didn't make any sense at all.
shannon briggs
Bro, it was the sickest thing.
It was like the most eye-opening thing.
And people were literally like, they were telling me, but I could also see deeper into what they were saying.
Like, you're finished.
You'll never make another movie.
You'll never fight.
That was your marketing tool.
I was like, no, no, I can really fight.
I was like, no, I really got hands.
And they were like, you know, and no one believed in me.
So that's what makes this thing even more powerful than the fact that I got rid of that hair and I'm still doing my thing.
I'm still a champ.
joe rogan
What a weird thing for people to focus on.
unidentified
Dreadlocks.
Yeah.
shannon briggs
Marketing.
They looked at it like it was a marketing.
joe rogan
Well, it was back in the day.
That was a big part of who you were.
I mean, they always marketed your hair.
shannon briggs
Right.
joe rogan
The crazy dreadlocks.
shannon briggs
Right, right, right.
I understand, but I don't understand because if you know me, you really know me that that's just nothing.
And again, the hair was blocking me.
The hair was blocking my vibe because I was like, yo, the hair had its own personality.
unidentified
You feel me?
shannon briggs
The hair had its own personality.
And then there's really Shannon and cutting the hair and seeing how people treated me, I was like, you know what?
It's cool.
I'm just going to be me.
You know, I'm not going to try to talk correct or, you know what I'm saying?
My addiction is going to be what it's going to be.
People tell me, oh, Shannon, why don't you do movies?
Why don't you do this?
Listen, I don't speak well, champ.
I'm a hardcore ghetto.
You speak great.
joe rogan
I understand every word you're saying.
shannon briggs
Thank you, champ.
But listen, you know what I mean?
I'm not the type, you feel me?
I'm just keeping it real.
I've learned one thing, and shout out to Chris Lawrence, stay in your lane.
You know, and that's one of his best sayings, and I hear him say it all the time, but it's true.
I've learned that.
Stay in my lane, champ.
joe rogan
You know what you're really good at?
shannon briggs
What's that, champ?
joe rogan
You're really good at being Shannon.
shannon briggs
Let's go, Shannon.
joe rogan
That's what you're really good at.
shannon briggs
You're really good at being you.
And that took me, and thank you again, one more time.
And I mean that because that's what I didn't know who I was.
I didn't know who I was.
I grew up Overnight.
joe rogan
Well, it's understandable.
I mean, it takes a long time for everybody if everything's worked out perfectly.
shannon briggs
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah, man.
Everybody.
Everybody.
Every person that's ever lived.
No one ever...
If you do, you're a fool.
I mean, if you're like 18 years old, you got it all figured out, get the fuck out of here.
shannon briggs
I know what I did because I had my own apartment when I was like 15. So I was like, you know, not my own, but I had an apartment when I was 15. It was like a, what do you call it when you're living in a place where you're squatting, in a sense.
But, you know, I was like, I've been on my own all my life.
A friend of mine, Jesse Robertson, said to me one day, he said, you know, Champ, you've basically been making your own decisions since you was a kid.
joe rogan
But now you understand yourself better.
shannon briggs
Yeah.
I didn't know who the fuck I was, Champ.
unidentified
Right.
shannon briggs
I didn't know who I was.
I just knew that I was living.
joe rogan
Well, going through all the bad times, I think, is probably what has made your character so strong today.
And now that everything's good, you understand the importance of keeping it good.
That's why this positive message that you keep pumping out.
And that's why this, let's go, champ!
shannon briggs
I'm one sip away from...
A fruit punch from not feeling good.
I went to Roscoe's yesterday.
You know, great food, I guess.
joe rogan
Chicken and waffles.
shannon briggs
Yeah, and I had a...
I took a sip of the...
What's it called?
The lemonade, sunrise, I don't know, the fruit punch and the sugar.
joe rogan
That sugary shit.
shannon briggs
Got me thinking bad.
I was like, oh man, I feel terrible.
Like, so again, I say that.
You say I'm on the path and that's a great path.
But it's so crucial to...
Diet's important.
Who I'm around is important.
You feel what I'm saying?
Because that's the energy.
You feel me?
If I'm around somebody doing some negative shit...
I'm not on that.
joe rogan
Yeah.
shannon briggs
So I don't need to be around this person.
I don't even listen to, like, that much hip-hop.
I listen to beats.
I don't even, because I don't want to hear you drinking, you smoking.
You want to screw this girl, you this, you that.
You got this.
You got this car.
I got the watch.
I don't need that, champ.
I already went through that.
And that was a bad portion of my life.
The 90s is something I wish never happened that I can remember.
The 90s, until four years ago, I don't feel like I was alive.
Yeah, I don't feel like I was alive.
And that's credit to my family, man.
My wife and kids, man.
They really held me down.
I'm crazy, champ.
This ain't no act.
I've been through some shit.
I believe you.
Yeah, I've been through some shit, man, you know?
joe rogan
What is all that crazy music you play in the background when you do your videos?
What is that?
shannon briggs
That's just beats, champ.
Shout out to the Loud Lord OG Tags.
These are just beats.
Razie K, all the people, man, you know what I'm saying?
Courtney Scott, all the people.
She's a female from L.A., makes beats.
She's amazing.
I mean, I had to, like, do a detox.
Like, I don't watch certain things on television.
You know, you're flicking the channel, what you got, First 48, Lock Up.
You got negativity, news.
I had to do a detox from the news lately.
I don't watch any more news.
The presidential election, all this shit is going crazy.
I don't want to be involved because I'm involved with something else.
Boxing.
I'm focused on Lucas Brown.
I can't focus on Trump and Hillary.
I got to focus on Shannon Briggs and me and Lucas locking ass whenever we get a date.
You feel me?
So I've learned to put things in perspective.
Shannon, this ain't for you.
I can't watch the internet and watch so much brutal knockout videos and this girl's doing that and this guy.
I don't need to be involved with that.
And that's what a lot of people need to learn.
And a lot of people who follow me on kids, And they say, thanks champ.
Because what I see the most damaging thing right now in America or around the world, forget that, around the world, is that kids don't have guidance.
You know what I mean?
So they got Uncle Champ.
You feel me?
Some kids, thousands of kids hit me like you're like a dad to me, man.
You know what I mean?
I didn't have a dad.
I didn't have a role model.
I didn't have nothing.
So they're looking at my videos.
With days I don't want to make videos, Joe, I get texts, Champ, you okay?
unidentified
You know what I'm saying?
shannon briggs
You okay, Champ?
We haven't heard from you in a couple of days.
So I have a responsibility now to help others, make them feel happy by being happy sometimes when I don't even feel happy.
joe rogan
Well, I think one of the things you're saying that's really important is you're talking about a mental diet as well as a physical diet.
unidentified
100%.
joe rogan
And I think you really do have a mental diet.
And if you just take in nothing but negative things all day and around negative people, and especially when you just expose yourself to 7 billion people's worth of news, and the only stuff that gets popular is the stuff that's fucked up.
shannon briggs
Nasty shit, bro.
joe rogan
It'll fuck with your head.
shannon briggs
Nasty.
I mean, forget your head, because then it physically starts feeling blood.
I felt so crazy with this election.
unidentified
You know what I'm saying?
shannon briggs
Physically, I was like, man.
That's when I was like, you know what?
That's it.
I came home.
I was like, that's it.
No more.
I told my wife.
I said, no, I said, no.
I said, please, do me a favor.
If you want to watch this stuff, do me a favor.
Please, just TiVo it and watch it when the champ's not around, because I can't.
It's really affecting me, because I got to worry about training.
I got to think about that.
I don't want to be worried about what they do.
What happens is going to happen.
You know what I mean?
It's going to affect me or it's not going to affect me.
I'm going to deal with that then.
But right now, I've got to focus on me.
And that's what I couldn't do, champ.
And I don't blame anybody.
But if you're out there on prescription drugs, I was taking all types of inhalers all my life.
Since I was a prominent teen from early days.
Kids, that stuff is bad for you mentally, champ.
joe rogan
Is it?
shannon briggs
Bad for you mentally, man.
joe rogan
What does it do for you?
shannon briggs
Oh man, the anxiety, the jitters, the brain, the chemistry, what it does to your brain, man.
It alters it, champ.
Oh, you got to be careful.
I'm not telling you, take your medicine, follow your doctors.
I'm not telling you, don't listen to your doctors.
But me personally, I had to go on a journey to find out how to save me.
Because I went to every doctor.
They don't know anything about hormones and This and that.
They don't know anything.
They don't know.
I heard you once say, if you want to find out about your hormones, find a super older doctor that looks great that knows about this type of shit.
Because when you're feeling depressed and your testosterone is like 80 or 20, you feel like killing yourself, champ.
You've got to do something.
People can't hand you a bunch of pills and say, this is going to make you feel better.
You're still going to have low tests, which for a man is going to make you feel like a bitch.
Excuse my language, but it's just a fact.
So...
All these different factors play a role, and also again, back to what you're saying, what you're watching, the mental diet.
If you're watching people getting killed all day, You're going to feel a certain way.
All this shit is going in your brain and your mental storage.
You feel me?
And now you're just wondering why.
And then you're eating sugar, eating cookies and donuts and fast food and Chinese food.
This shit ain't helping you either, champ.
joe rogan
You know what I mean?
shannon briggs
And that's what I'm telling people every day.
Champ, leave it alone.
It's too tempting.
Everywhere you go, you see fast food.
Take the food home and cook it yourself.
We've got to try the best.
And the problem is, it's not cheap.
Who can afford to go to Whole Foods every day?
joe rogan
Right.
shannon briggs
You know what I'm saying?
It's hard.
I'm struggling.
Who can afford every day to spend $150, $200 for their family every day?
That shit is hard, champ.
joe rogan
I think what you're saying is very important.
It's very important about a mental and a physical diet.
It's the same thing.
When you're watching all the violence on television or all the negative news, it's like sugar.
It's very compelling and easy to take in and nut it for you.
shannon briggs
Terrible.
I had that sugar drink last night and three sips in.
I was like, because I'm not used to it.
I was feeling it.
I was like, yo, champ.
This is what people drinking every day.
joe rogan
All day, every day.
Like there's nothing.
shannon briggs
And I was that big.
I was dumb.
How was I able to do it now I can't take a sip?
joe rogan
It's crazy how your body adjusts.
unidentified
Amazing.
joe rogan
Your body adapts to not having sugar and feeling healthy, and then when you do have something that's unhealthy, you feel it like you really feel it deep in your body.
unidentified
And your mood.
shannon briggs
And your mood change.
You feel me?
joe rogan
I crash.
shannon briggs
Yeah, man.
joe rogan
I had a cheeseburger and a milkshake, man, and it was like somebody hit me with a tranquilizer dart.
I felt terrible.
Man!
shannon briggs
I'm telling you, bro.
It was crazy.
joe rogan
Before, I would eat that and it would be nothing.
shannon briggs
Crazy.
joe rogan
But I think what you're saying, I think, is very important for people to take in, you know, and having a person like you who's experienced these great highs and lows and then come out of it with this positive energy, that is so powerful for people.
That's such an important, motivational thing for other people, though, man.
shannon briggs
There's no other way.
joe rogan
Yeah, as much as you're helping yourself, and I know you're helping yourself, you're helping a lot of people, man.
You really are.
shannon briggs
We're helping each other.
No, no, we're helping each other.
I mean, honestly, there's nothing.
I said from the beginning that this ain't mine.
You know, I patented.
I trademarked the name.
I mean, I trademarked the saying and everything.
joe rogan
You trademarked Let's Go Champ?
shannon briggs
I had to, Champ.
Go to let'sgochamp.com.
Yeah, I had to, you know.
I had so many ups and downs.
Like I told you, when I tell you no lie, bro, I got nothing to lie to you about.
I was involved with some major deals.
When I'm talking about from at the top in the beginning in business and entertainment.
And the champ didn't, you know, come out on a good side.
So, a lot of times.
A lot of times enough to say, damn, am I stupid or something?
But, you know, just trust and belief and getting shagged.
joe rogan
It's a dirty business.
shannon briggs
It's a dirty game, champ.
joe rogan
Boxing is dirty and it's been dirty forever.
shannon briggs
Business is dirty.
joe rogan
All business.
shannon briggs
All business is dirty.
So, that's what I learned.
And, you know, coming out where I am now and, you know, I trademarked it because I said, you know what?
It was starting to fizzle.
I was really passionate about it because it's something that I was saying.
Again, I didn't have nobody around me.
I used to have friends with me all the time.
I'm training, whatever.
They all left.
It was all moved on.
So for me, I was like, no entourage, nobody to push me.
I got to push myself.
So I started talking to myself.
Something that I never did.
And that's a whole other story.
I'm going to tell you in the book why I refused to talk to myself.
joe rogan
Why did you refuse to talk to yourself?
Tell me.
shannon briggs
I'm saving it for the book.
joe rogan
Fuck it.
I'll sell the book, man.
You let me know, man.
I'll put up links.
I'll let people know.
I'll buy it myself.
shannon briggs
If we go in that route, then I already know.
joe rogan
Come on.
shannon briggs
No, no.
But the reason why is because I had an uncle, my mother's brother.
Anthony Parham, he was her only brother.
He went to the military.
He went to the Vietnam War as a child, you know, as a young man, 18 years old, when he left high school.
He didn't have to because it was all sisters, and he wanted to go because everyone around the town, Petersburg, Virginia, excuse me, Jarrett, Virginia, everybody from his town, the young men were going, his cousins and everybody.
So he went.
He came back.
Disturbed.
He came back, you know, different than when he went in.
He was actually missing for quite a time.
They were going to declare him dead when he showed up one day with a trench coat on, army boots, and naked in Halsey Street in Brooklyn.
So this led to him being mentally disturbed.
All my life, he would talk to himself.
He lived with us.
I slept in a twin bed here, and he slept in the bed there.
And he was, you know, when alcohol When he drank, he became very violent.
You know, he beat my mom up one time, really bad, close her eyes up.
And him talking to himself was something I grew up all my life watching.
And I'm like, Amy Crazy, you call him Amy.
Amy, you crazy, you crazy talking to yourself.
And I got older, I would just refuse to even have a conversation with myself, oh, you're crazy.
And four years ago, I started having conversations with myself, champ.
I was like, yo, you know what, champ?
You got to go.
And I started saying, let's go, champ.
And I was like, man, I asked my wife, I said, you think I'm crazy because I spoke?
She was like, yeah, we already know you're crazy.
You know what I mean?
So I'm like, let's go, champ.
And that was my mantra.
It became my mantra.
My friend told me one of his mantras was, to be the man, you got to be the man.
When he was tired, he was running mile 18. To be the man, you got to be the man.
To be the man, you got to be the man.
joe rogan
He just would say it to himself.
shannon briggs
Yeah, and I was like, you know what?
I need a mantra.
And I was hitting the bag one day, and I was tired.
I was like, 400 pounds.
I was like, let's go, champ.
Let's go, champ.
In the head, champ, when I'm feeling pain, you're feeling pain, you're feeling down, tell yourself, let's go, champ.
Let's go, champ.
joe rogan
Dude, I hear you when I work out sometimes.
shannon briggs
It's yours.
joe rogan
Pushing through a set?
shannon briggs
It's yours.
It's everybody's.
It's the people's, man.
The people gave me this.
The universe gave me this.
The people linked into it.
And it's not mine.
It's ours.
We just want to give each other positivity and love.
I meet people from everywhere, champ.
I'm a little nuts because I go to every city or country and people say, champ, I'm in the lobby or I'm in this town.
Can I meet you?
And I say, come over to the hotel.
And they come.
You know what I mean?
They come.
joe rogan
You might have to stop that when you win the title.
I'm like, Get a little crazy.
shannon briggs
Nah, I'm the people's champ.
I'm here for the people.
joe rogan
Wow, man, that's strong.
Well, listen, if you can motivate yourself, I mean, you motivate other people, you should definitely be able to motivate yourself as well.
shannon briggs
I'm not trying, no, let me be honest with you.
I'm not trying to, like, say I'm a guru, I'm a motivator.
I'm just a dude who is, I'm showing people that I was down and out.
I was flat on my face.
I wanted to kill myself.
And I didn't give up for the love of my family and now the love of the people that's saying, let's go champ, that believe in me.
I want to do it for them.
You need a reason.
You need a purpose.
Scott Hirsch.
Shout out to Scott Hirsch.
He told me a long time ago, he said, you know, Shannon, I think the family thing environment is just out of the blue in the conversation.
He just said, you know, Shannon...
We weren't even talking about anything.
He said, you know, I just think the family plays a huge part of our development.
I said, why do you say that, Scott?
He said, because it gives you a reason to go home at night.
And I was like, damn, you know, we all need a reason.
You know what I mean?
Give you a reason.
And my family gives me a reason.
And you give me a reason.
And Snoop Dogg gave me a reason.
And Cam'ron gave me a reason.
Every popular rapper and unpopular rapper and guys who make beats, they gave me a reason because champ ain't feel good, man.
I'm going to keep it real with you.
A lot of days I ain't feel good, but when I got up and seen you or Snoop or Cam'ron or Reels or...
I'm not a chance or anybody out there that I know that gave me a shout out or that, you know, add this to someone else.
I was like, they gave me a reason.
And the reason became more and more.
So I felt like I was taking in the energy from the people around the world.
Every text, every meme, every DM, I feel like I'm getting stronger because now the people behind me.
I never had nothing, Joe.
I was on my own.
I was a kid by myself.
And now I got the world behind me.
That's all I needed, Trevor.
joe rogan
You got a lot of people behind you.
shannon briggs
I got the world, Trevor.
I got 150, thanks to you as well and everybody who promotes me.
Those are my promoters, by the way.
The people who promote me.
Thanks to you guys, I got like 150-something thousand people, 156,000 people following me, right?
That to me is unreal.
I started out with nine.
joe rogan
I remember when you talked about me on your Instagram because we were talking about you and how much I love your videos.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And I was like, oh shit, Shannon's listening!
shannon briggs
I love it!
joe rogan
It got me excited, man.
shannon briggs
This is excitement for me because I never had this.
I never had no momentum.
I never had nobody behind me.
I got a reason.
I feel like Rocky.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, team fighting.
You know what I'm saying?
Adrian!
You know what I feel like?
You know, I got a reason.
You know what I mean?
I got a reason.
I never had a reason except to try to make some money.
To feed myself and my family or to show off or get some shit.
You know what I'm saying?
Some Nevo Rich type of situation.
Now, I don't care about the money.
Of course I gotta have the money.
Don't get me wrong.
And I want to be paid accordingly.
I'm bringing non-boxing fans to boxing.
That deserves something.
Now, I told you, when I fought Vitaly Klitschko, they did the highest ratings ever.
Not because of Klitschko, because of Shannon Briggs.
He fought many people.
Why so many with me?
When I fought Lennox Lewis, highest ratings.
When I fought George Foreman, highest ratings.
I sell, champ.
Now, I want to be paid for that, champ.
This is a job.
You know what I mean?
I'm a mailman.
I get up every day and go to work.
Do my job.
But I want to be paid.
I didn't get paid when I fought Klitschko, champ.
I want to make money.
I'm not stupid.
You feel me?
I was, but I'm not anymore.
joe rogan
But that's not your primary motivation.
shannon briggs
No.
My primary motivation is the people are behind me and I want to do something that's never been done.
I want to bring all these non-boxing fans like Muhammad Ali did.
I want a Muhammad Ali moment.
Not for me and for my ego, because I don't have it.
I cut the heel already.
I got a girl already.
I got a wife.
I don't care.
You know what I'm saying?
I don't care about clothes.
I don't want to do Bentley.
I don't care about that no more.
I don't want none of that.
I just want the people to say, Champ!
That'd make me feel good, champ.
That'd make me feel good, man.
That'd make me feel like, you know what?
My mom looking at me, and she can say I'm proud of my boy.
You feel me?
He made something out of nothing.
You know, we was homeless.
People turned their back on us, champ.
They wouldn't let us come in their place.
Many nights we sat on the train, and many nights I didn't know if she was alive or dead.
You know, and I was hoping, and just, and it was rough, man.
And I want her to look at me and say, man, my boy made it.
You know what I mean?
And she said something before she died.
She said, Shannon, when we lost everything, people said, you know, she was like the big person in my family that was supposed to do something.
This is all in the book.
But she was supposed to be something.
And she came to New York, and she was living her life, and she was making it, got a job, and she got on drugs.
And she went from a beautiful woman to a woman who lost everything, but she had a son.
And she took me sickly and all and stuck by my side, so I said, I'm going to make it.
And she instilled in me, make it, Shannon, regardless of what you got to do, make it.
And when people turned our back on us, and we had nothing, Joe, she said, Shannon, one day we're going to have something, and they're going to look at us different.
You feel me?
And she said to me before she died, she said, I didn't make it, but I made it through you.
And that's what I'm doing this for.
Because she did make it.
She made it to her son.
And she wouldn't want me to give up.
Asthma ain't no excuse.
No manager ain't no excuse.
No promoter ain't no excuse.
Make it.
And then I came out with social media.
They came out with social media.
And I'm making it, champ.
joe rogan
Well, you're making a lot of people happy too, man.
unidentified
Thank you, champ.
joe rogan
A lot of excitement.
unidentified
Thank you, champ.
joe rogan
You provide a lot of motivation, a lot of enthusiasm.
shannon briggs
Let me loose!
joe rogan
I'm in your corner, brother.
Let me loose!
shannon briggs
Thank you, champ.
joe rogan
Thank you for being here, man.
unidentified
I can't thank you enough.
shannon briggs
I really appreciate it.
I had a great fucking time.
I'm sorry to cut you off.
unidentified
Go ahead, brother.
joe rogan
No, nothing.
I'm just saying I had a great fucking time talking to you.
shannon briggs
Yeah, this has been therapeutic for me, more importantly, because I needed to...
Because no one's been able to give me an outlet.
Especially no one this big has given me an opportunity to talk to so many people.
And I wish I could have done this totally different now.
joe rogan
Perfect!
shannon briggs
This is perfect!
I started out a little tripping up, but it's all good, champ.
This is a moment for me in life because forget the past.
I don't even remember shit.
I got some type of damage.
I don't even care.
I remember this shit.
This moment right now is the moment, man.
I'm in the moment, man.
I'm in the moment.
And I appreciate it because it means a lot to me, man, because I was flat.
Nobody wanted to give me nothing.
Nobody gave me a shot.
I couldn't get a t-shirt.
I called Everlast and said, man, let me get a t-shirt.
They said, don't call back, man.
Don't go here with that shit, Shannon.
I could get nothing from nobody, man.
I don't want nothing from nobody.
You know what I'm saying?
All I want to do is be successful, you know, have something for my family when I'm gone.
You know what I'm saying?
So they don't have to suffer the way I did.
And I want to make people laugh and make people have fun and leave my fights and say, man, he did it.
Then I'm going to do it again.
That's another thing.
Before I go, I want to say this.
I want to fight a lot.
I want the heavyweight champion to fight three, four, five times a year.
I don't believe in this fight two years.
He should fight every six weeks, the heavyweight champion.
Yes!
That's what should be happening.
And that's what I want to be.
I want to be an active campaigner.
And I'll give that to Wilder.
They did keep him busy before he hurt his arm.
They kept him busy.
But that's how you're supposed to fight the game.
Be busy.
Be busy.
Have fun.
Bring more people to the sport.
And then walk away.
joe rogan
Follow this man on Instagram.
It will make your life happier.
shannon briggs
Let's go, Chad.
joe rogan
Give people the address.
Give people the Instagram address.
shannon briggs
My Instagram is canon underscore Briggs.
Let's go.
You know, that's my Instagram.
And my Facebook is what?
Shannon Briggs?
unidentified
Shannon Briggs.
shannon briggs
Shannon Briggs.
joe rogan
And then Twitter is The Cannon.
shannon briggs
The Cannon Briggs on Twitter, man.
And my website is LetsGoChamp.com.
joe rogan
LetsGoChamp.com.
shannon briggs
Yeah, buy a t-shirt, man.
I'm on my own, champ.
I appreciate y'all.
I'm not, you know, using the money for nothing.
That's for you, champ.
That's for you.
joe rogan
I'm wearing this.
shannon briggs
You know what I mean?
Shout out to my baby girl, Chloe, Moo Moo Fat, Chan and Kaden and my wife Alana.
I love you, babe.
Shout out to everybody.
If you don't mind me giving a shout out.
joe rogan
Please, shout out.
unidentified
Shout it out.
shannon briggs
You know black people without shout outs.
joe rogan
Shout it out.
shannon briggs
Chris Lawrence, Chris Jr., Stacy, Amir, Iman, everybody from Brooklyn, Brownsville.
I love y'all.
Around the world, LA, Compton, Watts.
Everybody, my man.
Ooh, Paolo out there.
Jamal, Jamizzi.
Everybody in the crew.
There's so many to thank, but I really want to thank you because, bro, I made it.
I made it again.
I made it before, but I made it again.
This is a sign that I'm back.
joe rogan
You're back.
shannon briggs
I'm back.
joe rogan
Let's go, champ!
shannon briggs
Let's go, champ!
joe rogan
Thank you, everybody.
That was beautiful.
shannon briggs
Thank you, champ.
You're the best ever.
unidentified
That was fun, man.
shannon briggs
Please, shake your hand.
Export Selection