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Throb · Sun Nov 05, 2006 5:55 pm SOV BLOC LOOSES ONE OF ITS HEAVYWEIGHT WORLD TITLES

From BBC Sport

Shannon Briggs scored a sensational last-second knockout victory against Serguei Lyakhovich to take the WBO heavyweight title in Phoenix.
Briggs trailed on all three judges' scorecards entering the 12th round but punched the champion through the ropes to win a world crown at the age of 34.

"I was tired," he admitted. "I used a lot of energy in the first round trying to get him out. I almost blew it.

"I would've probably gone home and shot myself in the head if I hadn't won."

Lyakhovich, born in Belarus but now a US citizen, said: "I didn't fight my fight. I fought his fight.

"It just didn't happen. I took his best shot. He caught me right on the chin. It was just a lack of punches before. I wasn't right there."

Until Briggs's win, all four major heavyweight titles were in the hands of boxers from former Soviet Union states.

We want Klitschko, we want Maskaev. We want them all until we unify the crown

Promoter Don King

Russian giant Nikolay Valuev