When a bunch of the world's finest heavyweights hog the limelight and forget to leave the door ajar for incoming talent, what are the options for the semi seasoned, highly motivated and extremely talented young contenders that are not fortunate enough to be considered amongst the Clique that is The top ten?

They can either keep afloat by maintaining themselves physically and financially by independently staying as active as one can be, in a very tough world to crack into. Or in some cases create allies with their fellow fighters-promoters to seek an alternative route to ply their trade and become collectively attractive and get seen on one of a selection of the circus type tourneys or shows that are more frequently available on our TV networks today.

In the high profile life of the prize fighter in the year 2001 you need to be an extra shiny new penny to be noticed amidst the massive operations that surround the creation of the Image - Illusion that eventually hatches into a publicly recognized contender. In the examples that I give, I do not wish anyone to be offended, but just to pull some of the smoky layers away from the seemingly complicated and confusing facts that surround the making of a real challenger and to publicly commend a few people in the business who are making life a little easier for the solid few who are pushing damn heavy for that tiny glimmer of respect that is so often deserved by those who may be gifted enough but never quite get the even crack of the whip.

There are many ways in which one can become a contender, my first case goes back to the year of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. A very brash athletic and extremely tenacious ball of fire named Shannon Briggs had failed to make the team because of some very Political problems concerning his appearance ... he had speed, ability, power and pedigree and was touted as a very marketable commodity who would be more suited as a professional. Shannon to my knowledge was very offended by the lack of support given to him by the Selection Committee, so he turned to New York columnist Mike Marley and business partner Marc Roberts in a bid to become a well marketed Pro.

The marketing was well executed, Mike took Shannon and made his Golden braids the best recognized hair wear since Goldilocks herself... he was chaperoned to every major event and appeared in exclusive magazines and rap videos before he even became a giant figure inside the ropes, and when he was an active member of the boxing community he did not disappoint.

The tempestuous Briggs was amassing KO victories in the same fashion as his fellow Brownsvillain Mike Tyson, mercilessly, furiously and Quickly! He was given incentives for his victories just to keep him sweet. I believe that Shannon was told that he could have a Jeep when he became 10-0, a trophy to signify a landmark... Shannon obliged and while amassing such wins tapes of Shannon's knockouts were being circulated in high society to make him more recognized. Press, celebrities and boxing critics were all being made very aware of the shark fin that was emerging on the distant horizon of the cesspit in which the heavyweight contenders were floating at that period.

Holyfield was dominating and his selected defenses at the time were less than encouraging for a kid like Shannon. I mean how does it look, any young contender would have shed tears, winning, and regimentally honing their tools in steamy 100 degree gyms and still winning, looking for breaks taking last minute calls and giving their all, still winning, only to watch the millionaire champ giving back to back defenses to old millionaire ex champs Larry Holmes and George Foreman. How can a contending youngster get noticed in this scenario?

Well, Mr. Roberts and Mr. Marley were doing a fabulously well thought out job, as did William Cayton and Jimmy Jacobs before them....they did what you have to do to create the image, hired a great trainer to steer him in the correct direction and invested in him to keep their golden boy in focus... everything was almost in place, Shannon was rolling towards destination X.

They gave their prospect an image, they marketed the image well.. they test-drove the product and it handled the road impeccably, running all of its competitors off the road on its way to its ultimate destination; they fueled it with motivation and gave it incentives to reach its goal and gave it the best driver around to steer it towards that goal, (Teddy Atlas), but no matter how well prepared all concerned in the project can be for every eventuality, you always meet an obstacle along the way.

On the night that Shannon's marketing ploys were supposed to work for him, and all of the boxing world's eyes were spotlighted on him, the balance tipped in the wrong direction, and instead of putting a stage up for Shannon's biggest public performance, they may as well have set up a giant gallows right in the center of the Convention Hall in Atlantic City . On the 15th of March, 1996, as a TV taster in preview to Bruno v Tyson 2, Shannon was to be featured on a show aptly named "Night of the Young Heavyweights" in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

When all of the division's young contestants were to be given real prime TV time in a highly publicized event, Shannon's people had planned this night as a platform to catapult his high reputation into overdrive and onto another plateau. Briggs was to head the show and touted as the new generation's flag bearer and heir apparent.

The card consisted of three very well made matches featuring the best young guns who were approaching graduation, Andrew Golota, Dannell Nicholson, David Tua, John Ruiz, Darrol Wilson and Shannon Briggs... with cap and gown almost in place, the unthinkable happened. No, the cable signal did not fail.. in fact everything was perfect and precise; TV figures were large, ticket demands were too. The Convention Hall was a festival of celebrities from TV and boxing, an autograph hunter's heaven, anyone with the slightest curiosity in the possibility of Mike Tyson's re-crowning showed up...

Unfortunately for Shannon, New Jersey's own, Mr. Darrol Wilson showed up too... and in the main event, self named Darrol 'Doin Damage' Wilson grasped his chance of small time glory and slammed a roadblock on Shannon Briggs's career with an untimely third round TKO.

He exposed the well Marketed Product to have a flaw in its production line, they forgot to implant a heart, and the desire that comes with it... Shannon was now publicly "a quitter." In an obscene three rounds Shannon failed to blast his little known foe out and when he began to tire of trying, Darrol got lively and began to award a lashing of huge proportions in Briggs' direction. Shannon was gasping and desperate and with nowhere to hide and chips stacked against him he QUIT...dropped heavily and stayed put.

The point that I am attempting to bring into play here is that even when you get everything right and you have your viewing numbers in place and everyone has tuned in, the last piece of the jigsaw can be totally overlooked and that is... 'your fighter' having a bad night, and the timing was horrible in the case just given.

Shannon Briggs was being hollered into the ears of everyone when it came to new contenders at that time and none of the other young guys was getting a look in apart from him. It was not Shannon's fault, it was just, the more wins, the more expectation, the more press coverage, equals massive pressure and when asked to put the culmination of four years of great P. R. and investments into a ring for one session in front of The whole expectant planet, it was tough for the young man to give what everyone is used to seeing from him, after all we are dealing with human beings not robots.

Someone once said "anyone can become the Heavyweight Champion of the World if you want to pay for it, but the art is to make the title pay you."

Enter Mr. Cedric Kushner, with so many top class heavyweight vying for a slice of the action, the small pickings are few and far between. If you don't want to risk all and go down the road of Mark Roberts and Mike Marley, you may want to consider talks with the very integral and highly respected Cedric Kushner.

He has been Mr. Patient as far as I am concerned, waiting for his big payoff, from one of his many tournament fighters. Cedric is a multi-talented Promoter who began his life as a multilingual Rock band promoter who worked with, among others Fleetwood Mac. Simply put, Cedric's strategy is an impressive one. When Don King had his top 10 heavyweights all sewn up in million dollar mix-ups, Kushner took his pick from the rest without much competition, and put on world-wide TV shows which showcased the various talented heavyweights that existed outside of the top 10 - 15, in often very well made matches with the hope that one of the many outsiders will every once in a while crack through and make some waves at top level.

Cedric Kushner's Sports Network has been involved in many TV events: Corona Extra World Championship Boxing , Rising Stars, and Heavyweight Explosion. Recently Cedric has launched another regular traveling show in the mould of Thunderbox, etc. with Everlast Heavyweight Explosion. I went to Nevada recently and took in two such shows from close proximity and really was surprised by the entertainment value that I experienced.

The players ranged from excellently matched main features, with recognized names getting a nice break into TV big time, with extensive and carefully made co-features containing regular players in a kind of tourney, aimed at making good money for circuit fighters who were all in impeccable shape.

Each Explosion card features pretty much the same array of undercard fighters doing a sort of round robin against each other, being given the chance of good TV exposure and to earn a great living while attempting to break into bigger things... The tournaments let the unheralded try to prove their worth with the incentive being a slot one day as the main event leading to the big time.

The first Explosion card that I attended was at the plush Hilton Hotel in Reno Nevada... Cedric's card comprised of a very interesting main event, between the ever colourful James Thunder and very rarely seen Guyanan puncher and WBA #10 Andre "Tombstone" Purlette, with the very lavish record of 30- 0, (27 KOs).

Cedric's undercard had a tough co-main blast out between Corey "T-Rex" Sanders and rugged Willie Williams, and three hot prospects down the card, Dave Defiagbon, DaVarryl Williamson and Dominic Guinn seeing the evening's proceedings out against selected opposition. Although the last three bouts were quite predictable it showed the promise of the soon to be contenders in live action, getting the chance of regular work and good exposure.

Two weeks on in Las Vegas as a prelude to "Sugar" Shane's night at Caesar's, the Explosion rolled into town once more, to christen the new and improved Caesar's Pavillion .. it again did not disappoint. The Main bout was a well matched affair with Angie Dundee's Swedish prospect Attilla "The Hun" Levin against dangerous Ray Austin in a very good heavyweight show topper, and lower down the card popular Explosion names from Cedric's Hard Rock Explosion cards were featured: Talmadge Griffiths, Robert Davis, Sedric Fields, Derrel Dixon, Willie Palms, Charles Hatcher all getting the chance of bettering their record and getting a regular income....I will give the results later, but my point must be stated first.

Cedric is giving some grateful athletes the chance to stay on the scene and give great action to the public which the shows really were, success in abundance.... something sadly that has eluded Mr. Kushner at Heavyweight lately. The last three years should have been the pinnacle of his hard work. The payoff coming in the form of ex Heavyweight Explosion player Ike 'The President' Ibeabuchi. Cedric took his prospect to Sacramento and risked all royally against the Heavyweight flavour of the month and heavily rated Samoan Puncher David 'Terminator' Tua and in a very well fought match up of unbeaten KO artists on the rise, it was a well calculated gamble and surprisingly close fought battle, in which Kushner's man became the hottest cat on the block by out hustling the very game and rugged Tua on points.

Later that year Ike upset another unbeaten upstart in the slippery Chris Byrd. In a savage, relentless onslaught he stopped Byrd, confirming himself as the uncrowned king of the Dangermen and #1 on the 'to be avoided list,' of any titleholder's agenda. It looked like Cedric at last had the goose that was going to lay the golden egg, but all soon turned to omelet on a trip to las Vegas.

Ike had recently had a tendency to flip off the rails in the most outrageous circumstances, claiming that he was being stalked by Nigerian Demons and leaning almost towards paranoia, on one occasion suggesting that the same demons were hidden in the air conditioning vents of an apartment he rented; even attacking sparring partners for no apparent reasons, (referring to an incident where one Ezra Sellers required knee surgery following an unprovoked attack in the gym).

The signals were there that Ike was a potential flake of Sesame Street's Cookie Monster-like proportions. Ike was making Mitchell Green look like a pussy cat in comparison... but this time the centre of Mr. President's wandering attention turned towards a young female private dancer who threw accusations in Ibeabuchi's direction, following some unwise moves that occurred behind closed doors at Ike's Hotel suite.

The Nevada police were informed and in what ensued, Cedric's goose was accused and is now locked in a correctional facility awaiting trial for alleged rape. Mr Kushner did not let this deter him however, with his million dollar meal ticket lying in dock and the best years of a promising possible championship career held on lockdown, Cedric was handed an Ace by heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis's people, by way of an offer to gift his very lively and talented heavyweight contender Hasim Rahman an unexpected chance to challenge the champion in a match that on paper was to be just a time filler en route to Lennox's eventual battle royal with the ever dangerous ex champion Mike Tyson.

The proposed match was a curious one, staged in the wondrous geographical surroundings of the aptly named Carnival City, South Africa. Rahman entered a heavy Underdog ala Oliver McCall and one James Douglas before him, need I say any more? A very complacent and cruising champion was in total control and enjoying every advantage available in the bout when Rahman went for broke and came up trumps in a stunning upset, stopping Lewis and once again handing Mr Kushner , not just a slice of the heavyweight championship cake but the whole cake, candles and all... or so it seemed.

An obscene set of affairs followed, which saw Hasim Rahman blinded by a certain Mr. Donald King, and Cedric Kushner Gazumped of his second real chance of an Induction into Heavyweight Championship Elitehood, by way of an overlooked tiny legal loophole into which Mr King swooped and misguided the new champion towards the bank of Kingland.. With no sense of guilt or remorse the gullible fledgling champion was now property of DKP, and again Ced kept his composure and went about his business.

The last attempt of major honors went up in smoke recently when Kushner attempted to revive the tattered shreds of Mike Grant's once promising past, in his first bout since becoming publicly exposed in gigantic proportions by Lennox Lewis.

Mike signed with Kushner and with the aid of Teddy Atlas, (sounds familiar?), regroup and relaunch his 6 ft. 6 inches frame back into the serious mix only to wind up in a fix on the wrong end of a disastrous first round knockout at the hands of heavyweight chancer Jameel McCline... But the real issue is this, whatever does not kill you makes you stronger, be it in faith or in character.

Time after time Cedric gets a bad break and again he comes back with a fresh new conquest, and today five years on from Shannon's awful night in New Jersey he continues to be an ever popular, colorful, larger than life contender, why??? Because he swallowed pride and gave back to boxing what made him popular: excitement, and fueled with the will for success he became driven to grant us the gifts of such entertaining showings against Botha, Foreman and in a bid to grab his own piece of history he came within an ace of dethroning Lewis in a kill or be killed challenge that elevated his stock way beyond the Shannon Briggs that crossed paths with Wilson in '96.

So today he remains one of the division's must-have fighters, with more guts than we all gave him credit for on that one showing which promotes the old adage 'you can't keep a good man down' and Cedric keeps on giving and giving, in a world where there is so much taking. He is a good guy in a ocean of villains and I have to applaud someone like him to overcome the hurdles that he has faced, to stick to his morals and come correct and allow the ever growing list of wanting talent to believe in the fact that one day, thanks to the likes of him, may become a somebody, be it a heavyweight champion of the world or just a main eventer on a heavyweight Explosion show.

Respected by me Shannon Briggs and Mr. Cedric Kushner definitely are...