BOXING Koval-Briggs set to fight March 18

The on again, off again bout will be in Fort Smith, Ark., for four vacant titles.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The on again, off again bout for vacant heavyweight titles between Austintown's Chris Koval and Shannon Briggs is on again with several championships added for both fighters to reap a harvest.
The fight was scheduled Jan. 27 in Miami before being canceled by Briggs, who was going after a bout with ranked heavyweight David Tua.
According to Pat Nelson, Koval's manager, there was a reneging of the original contract. Then Tua stepped out of a fight with Briggs and a new date was set for Koval. The reset date was Feb. 25 in Oklahoma City, but Briggs suffered an ankle injury while training and another date was set.
12-round bout
The new date is March 18 at the Convention Center in Fort Smith, Ark., and their 12-round bout -- which will be for four vacant titles -- is the main event. The titles up for grabs are sanctioned by the USBA, NABF, NABO and the WBO. In addition, the winner of the fight will enter all the top 10 rankings.
Briggs, from West Orange, N.J., owns a 12-round victory over George Foreman and a TKO loss to Lennox Lewis. At age 34, Briggs is 45-4-1 with 39 knockouts.
Koval has 18 KOs
Koval, 23, is 23-2 with 18 KOs and is considered one of the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division.
"We are going to take the fight right to Briggs," said Koval's trainer, Tom Cordell. "We know he doesn't fight very well backing up and Chris fights very well coming forward and we feel that Chris can catch him early with some good power shots."
Koval said he wants to be aggressive early in the fight and feels disrespected.
"It seems that Briggs hasn't taken me very seriously as he has looked elsewhere for an opponent," said Koval. "He might find out he should have taken me seriously."