“I wasn’t doing anything to help my performance, I was doing something to live, to survive.”
Thursday 19 October 2017 16:12, UK
The six-month exile that has left Shannon Briggs in the wilderness has done nothing to dent his relentless positivity, writes James Dielhenn. The self-styled champ, as he nears his return from a drug ban, is just happy to be alive and swinging
"They're all scared of me," he growls about his heavyweight rivals but the cartoonish aura surrounding Briggs combusted earlier this year when he tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, the second drug test failure of his career. We ask, did he knowingly take performance-enhancing drugs?
"No, officer! No, sir. No, Scotland Yard! Are we on The Wire? Please, Your Honour."
I failed, and let down lots of people including myself. But I was in a dark place.
But the time has come to bench the caricature who shouts "let's go champ" and front up - his explanation for his failed test reveals the fine line between accusations of cheating and trying to address his inner demons.
"A doctor prescribed testosterone for depression and it truly helped me. I used unconventional ways, which came back to haunt me, but I needed to feel better," Briggs told Sky Sports.
"There was a time, prior to being introduced to testosterone, that I wanted to kill myself. But I was able to return to my family. I knew I was dealing with circumstances that would not be looked upon well [if I tested positive].
"I wasn't doing anything to help my performance, I was doing something to live, to survive.
"I tried to clean myself out, and actually took the test voluntarily. I failed, and let down lots of people including myself. But I was in a dark place. I was able to battle back through depression.
"I'm happy this news came out, champ, because there are a lot of people suffering. I woke up to a tweet saying: 'champ, you saved my life'. It was touching."
Briggs calls himself 'the champ', not for his two reigns as world heavyweight champion, but because he continues to fight his mental health issues. From the same Brooklyn neighbourhood that spat out Mike Tyson, Briggs experienced homelessness in a childhood that saw his mother lose a battle with addiction while his father died in prison.
His boxing career includes highs - he beat a 48-year-old George Foreman in 1997 for the lineal world title, and became WBO champion with a last-gasp win over Sergei Liakhovich in 2006. Now aged 45, Briggs' longevity is best summed up by the fact he was beaten by Lennox Lewis in 1998. Those familiar demons continually resurfaced during his career, most notably after a 2010 defeat to Vitali Klitschko when he ballooned up in weight and spent four years out of the ring.
"A lot of people cannot take the darkness but I went through it," Briggs said. "Depression is not a choice. There are a lot of different factors.
"Testosterone - can I tell you that it did not save my life? I cannot tell you that. I'm an asthma sufferer and testosterone helps with that. I was born asthmatic so came into boxing with deficiencies.
"I'm not taking anything now - no testosterone, no nothing. I'm just a working man trying to make it, I'm not trying to cheat the system. I don't think fighters who test positive should be banned for life."
PEDs remain a dirty secret in sports but Briggs insists that boxing's problem is no worse than "golf or archery", despite the recent drug test failures of heavyweight duo Alexander Povetkin and Luis Ortiz. Like them, Briggs was due to fight for a version of the world title, against Fres Oquendo, before his positive test scuppered the chance.
He concedes "it's been a struggle" to not fight for 17 months because boxing is "a living". Many athletes speak of difficulties when their careers abruptly end but Briggs, who hopes to retire before his 50th birthday, continues his outward positivity.
Once I put down the gloves I will have opportunities because I will make them. They're not going to put up statues of the champ but, at least, my great-grandkids will say: 'he was a boxer'.
"I'm not concerned. I feel good about my future. Once I put down the gloves I will have opportunities because I will make them. They're not going to put up statues of the champ but, at least, my great-grandkids will say: 'he was a boxer'."
His suspension ends on November 14 - 17 days after Anthony Joshua's world title defence and 10 days after Deontay Wilder's. Mentioning his heavyweight rivals causes Briggs to return to his entertaining persona, the internet sensation who pestered Wladimir Klitschko then David Haye.
Briggs followed Klitschko on jet-skis and into restaurants screaming 'let's go champ', but now accepts their paths will never cross. Of Klitschko, he said: "The guy was a great, a living legend. He would have done great against any heavyweight over history."
Briggs empathises with Tyson Fury whose own boxing exile is due to an ongoing UK Anti-Doping investigation and mental health issues.
"As far as his depression, I've got love for him," Briggs said. "I respect and understand what he's going through. My advice: no drugs or alcohol, exercise and eat right."
Briggs and Fury represent high-profile case studies of boxers fighting mental health problems, like Frank Bruno and Ricky Hatton before them, but the stories told more recently by Dave Allen and Leon McKenzie prove that it remains a significant problem. As seriously as Briggs takes his return to boxing, you sense he values the responsibility to share his own difficulties.
That message is best told as an active fighter. "I'll soon be 46,000 years old," he snarls, "but I'm looking forward to becoming a three-time heavyweight champion in three different decades, champ."
