Briggs denies dive in fight with Green

Paul Briggs has denied taking a dive in his fight against Danny Green, but the
controversial quick ending has now attracted stinging criticism outside Australia.
Green's IBO cruiserweight world title defence in Perth on Wednesday lasted just 29
seconds with challenger Briggs failing to beat the count after a punch which seemed
to barely flick the top of his head.
Briggs on Friday admitted he was "speechless" after watching a replay, but was
adamant there was nothing illegal about the fight.
"I didn't take a dive, I've never in my life taken a dive," Briggs told the Nine
Network.
Betting institutions expressed concern after a late plunge on a first-round knockout
but Briggs was equally adamant the fight was not fixed.
"I've got enough to worry about in facing Danny Green than to think about fixing a
fight," Briggs said.
However plenty of skepticism about the result remained.
A poll on website Fightnews.com asking whether the fight was fixed or there was a
legitimate KO resulted in 87 per cent of the respondents voting for the former.
A couple of boxing websites compared the outcome to the heavyweight bout between
Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon.
ESPN's boxing writer Dan Rafel described the Briggs-Green fight as "the worst tank
job I've seen since Bruce Seldon laid down against Mike Tyson without getting hit by
a legitimate punch in 1996".
"Briggs, who went the distance in two brutal wars against Tomasz Adamek, literally
did not get hit with a punch, yet went to his knees and stayed down for 10 after
being grazed by a lazy jab.
"It was absolutely pathetic."
Writing on Boxingtalk.com Scott Shaffer said there was "a terrible stench coming
from Australia caused by Paul Briggs taking an apparent dive".
Shaffer also compared the ending to the Tyson-Seldon fight and gave credit to the
Combat Sports Authority (CSA) of NSW for refusing to sanction it.
The controversial contest also sparked a firestorm of critical comment on boxing
forums.
CSA chairman Terry Hartmann took no joy out of his organisation's seemingly correct
decision to ban the fight, even though they were much maligned by Briggs and Green
for doing so.
"I don't get any pleasure out of being vindicated in this way, but I'm glad that he
(Briggs) appears not to have been seriously injured," Hartmann told AAP.
Briggs had strenuously denied before the fight that he had been suffering from
reported neurological problems.
However he told the Nine Network that as he walked to the ring he was having
problems with his sense of balance.
Green said the Briggs camp had a lot of answer for and had a duty of care to their
fighter.
"If I was told all the things that are now coming out, there was no chance I would
have fought Paul Briggs, but as far as we knew, Paul Briggs was coming to take my
head off," Green told Fairfax Radio.
The Western Australian Professional Combat Sports Commission (WAPCSC) have launched
an inquiry into the fight, while IBO president Ed Levine said on the Fightnews
website he intended to formally request WAPCSC conduct a complete inquiry and
investigation into the outcome.