Lewis Can’t Resist Taking Some Shots After Knockout

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Lennox Lewis had mixed emotions about his vanquished opponent Saturday night, first praising Shannon Briggs, then totally dismissing him.

Of course, Lewis has Evander Holyfield on his mind instead of the likes of Briggs.

“Shannon Briggs came to fight,” said Lewis, who had too much power in retaining the WBC heavyweight championship by knocking Briggs down three times and stopping him at 1:45 of the fifth round.

“He was braver than I expected,” Lewis said. “He did a lot of talking during the week and had to back it up. That’s why he got off the canvas three times.”

But Lewis, 33-1 with 27 knockouts, also claimed Briggs (30-2)had no business being in the ring with him.

“Shannon really couldn’t take my pace after I started hitting him with my jab,” Lewis said. “He realized his jab was not as good.

“He is basically a frontrunner. I just wanted to take his head off.”

But it was Briggs, winner of a controversial decision over George Foreman last Nov. 22 in Atlantic City, who landed big punches early.

He hurt Lewis with a big left hook and a flurry of punches in the last 30 seconds of the first round and staggered him again with a left hook and a couple more head punches in the second round.

Briggs said hurting Lewis early in the fight led him from his game plan. “I should have stuck to my plan. My plan was to be a little more steady. I went into a frenzy after I hurt him.”

Lewis must next make a mandatory defense against Zeljko Mavrovic of Croatia, ranked No. 1 by the WBC. Holyfield is scheduled to make a mandatory defense of the WBA title against top-ranked Henry Akinwande of Nigeria on June 6 at Madison Square Garden.