War Memorial Auditorium was the setting for a night a boxing presented by American Top Team Productions. How ironic the analogy that could be inferred by the key names in the above sentence; 'War' and 'American Top Team' certainly stand out at a time of military conflict such as the world is undergoing right now. However, this evening was about boxing, or better yet, it was about Shannon Briggs, but more on Mr. Briggs in a minute.

After a rocky opening show American Top Team Productions made many positive changes for this -their second offering- and that was great to see. The opener featured two 129 lbs. youngsters who certainly came to fight. Harold "Shorty" Lechado, from Clearwater, Florida, (0-1-1) met Gary Stark, from New York City, with 2-0, 1 KO numbers.

The pace was fast and punishing, with Stark opting to bypass the customary touching of the gloves at the opening bell, and going right to work on Lechado's head. It set the tone of the fight, although "Shorty" had Stark rocked in the second round, his serious combinations causing Stark a huge mouse under his left eye. Nevertheless, Lechado's inability to finish off his opponent in that round, allowed for him to get back in the fight, eventually scoring a unanimous decision 39-37 all.

A 6 rounder featuring Straw weight female fighters followed. Terri Moss, from Atlanta, Georgia, with a 3-3 1 KO record faced off against local favorite Vaia Zaganas, 6-1, 3 KOs. At age 37, Moss is in serious need of a career reassessment; she was very ineffective against the tough Zaganas, losing two points due to excessive holding, and dropping a unanimous shut out 60-52.

Things began to heat up with the appearance of one of boxing's most exciting fighters, Julian "Mr. KO" Letterlough, now under Mike Marley's management. Julian's opponent was Stacy Goodson, from Fort Smith, Arkansas, whose 31-30-2, 17 KOs record spoke for itself.

Letterlough didn't disappoint, disposing of Mr. Goodson in 1:23. It was good to see "Mr. KO" back in the ring, and we look forward to his future performances. By the way, word has it that Richard Hall was considering a move up to the Cruiserweight division, with Letterlough being one of the guys on his hit list.

Luis "Havoc" Collazo, a Brooklyn, New York prospect in the Jr. Middleweight division followed the explosiveness of Julian Letterlough. Collazo, 19-1, 8 KOs met Earl Allen, from Charleston, South Carolina, 11-14-2, 1 KO in an 8 rounder.

While Collazo is being heralded as a hot up and coming prospect, I have to question his punching power, and his record is somewhat indicative of the flaw as well. Allen was ripe for the taking several times during the encounter, but Collazo was unable to close the deal, and was rocked by Allen a couple of times during the match, something that he seemed to be totally unprepared for.

In the long run, Collazo prevailed, with an unpopular stoppage by referee Armando Garcia in the 4th round boosting the New Yorker's KO's stats to 9. The crowd booed the ref's action, and although there had been a knockdown in the round, and it seemed clear that Allen was not going to pull it off, the fans wanted to see more of these two in action.

Moving right along, the moment most awaited of the night, was the return of Shannon Briggs to the ring after an eleven months lay off. This was his night, his crowd, his fans, and they let him know it. With a very serious attitude Shannon entered the ring and exited it within 43 seconds. That's all it took for him to put Marvin Hill, from Fort Smith, Arkansas down and out. Briggs boosts his record to 37-4-1, 31 KOs, while Smith drops to 9-9, 5 KOs.