Ukraine’s WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko will be beaten so badly next Saturday in Hamburg that he will be forced to retire, said US challenger Shannon Briggs.

Briggs, the WBO champion from 2006-07 and with a record of 51 victories, five defeats and one no-contest, said that Klitschko had made a bad choice in selecting him as his opponent.

“I really feel for you,” the 38-year-old said, addressing Klitschko at their joint press conference.

“But you have made a bad choice: you are going to meet an adversary that you have never met before. I can hit, box and dodge my opponent’s punches.”

Briggs, who claims he has shed nearly 40kgs for the bout, said that after he had dispensed with Vitali he would take on his younger brother Vladimir, the WBO and IBF world champion.

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