Daily News from New York, New York • 263

62 --J- DAILY OrUil I NEWi I. 44 Hand injury KOs ex-Gloves champ Briggs from Olympic Trials MEg (OJDIMffl poster with the flag, two box BOXING MICHAEL KATZ 20-year-old fighter showed her the hand he injured six weeks ago on Phil Jackson's head. That's the Jackson who is undefeated as a pro and scheduled to fight Razor Ruddock on June 28. Mike Marley, the ex-Post boxing writer who is Briggs lawyer and adviser (read, manager in the pros), took his young charge to Dr. Charles Melone, the NYU Hospital hand specialist who took care of the paws of such fighters as Gerry Cooney, Hector Ca-macho and another Brownsville heavyweight named Mike Tyson.

The prescription was therapy and rest. Briggs could still dream, the way he had ever since he saw that poster on the wall in Jimmy O's Starrett City gym. "I saw it two years ago, a be healed. The four-time Daily News Golden Gloves champion, the favorite in the 201-pound heavyweight division, was medically disqualified from the Olympic Trials 12 hours before his opening bout A "severe strain," said the doctors. He thought about fighting lefthanded, truly one-handed because he couldn't use his right even for defense.

He had beaten five of the seven remaining competitors in his weight class and had never faced the other two. But by the time he was gorging on hamburger and French fries less than 12 hours before yesterday's weigh-in, at least subconsciously he had surrendered to the reality of injury. "These other guys here, WORCESTER, Mass. He had envisioned, first of all, being back in the ring with that Cuban who had knocked him out last year, and he pictured how he would handle the TV interviews afterward in Barcelona, being able to tell the kids that, hey, "I'm no different than anyone and if I could do it," anybody can do it" The message. Shannon Briggs of Brownsville's mean streets said, was that anyone could be down, but it was still all right to dream.

Yesterday, they put a splint on Shannon Briggs' Olympic dreams. The next time he enters a boxing ring, it probably will be in September, for money. By then, his right hand, with its ugly protrusion close to the wrist between thumb and forefinger, should ing gloves and a headgear," Briggs said. "It was so clear, so clean, so untouched. I saw myself in red, white and blue.

I would touch it every day I'd go to the gym." The dream was disturbed at the Pan-Am Games last year, when Felix Savon of Cuba, the world amateur champion, knocked him out in the first round. The 6-4 Briggs, weakened by the flu, was a drained 189 pounds when he fought the Cuban. But rather than so home with an alibi, he hid with a friend down in Washington. Ian Phillip, his buddy ever since they had a staring con- test on a subway and discovered they were both boxers from the nabe, chided him. He told Briggs there was nothing wrong with losing, that some day he still would be great another Sugar Ray Robinson.

Briggs hasn't lost i since ana ne nas risen irum No. 10 in the country to No. 1. He thought of Phillip, a light-heavyweight with a 3-1 pro record, and the tears that had burst out when Boitano disqualified him began to reappear. Ian Phillip is fighting for his life at Kings County Hospital, the victim of a machine-gun burst five bullets in his body, some in organs.

He probably will be left paralyzed because he happened to stop and say hello to some acauaintances at the same time hitmen were paying a call. "I went to see him Friday," Briggs said. "He can't speak, but he wrote a note, said, 'We're both gonna Briggs couldn't tell him. Three days earlier, he had reinjured the hand in spar- ring. Sometimes, the pain would dissiDate after a while.

but the more he worked, the more excruciating the pain was and finally, it didn't go away. Shuttling from doctors to therapy had. disrupted his training. Deep down, he knew he couldn't win the Tri- als, let alone the Olympic Boxoffs June 26-28 in Phoe- nix or the Games themselves a month later. "I hate to have to tell him I didn't fight," Briggs said.

"But I would hate to have to tell him I fought and lost" 'E HAS applied for sta tus as possible most oppo- nent" as chosen by a five-man panel, to face the Trials winner in the Boxoffs. Maybe no one here will look good enough to win a medal, may- be the hand will be better by June 16. Dreams die hard, but the Games are over for Briggs. Let the real game begin, the one where he can become heavyweight champion of the. world.

There's Iwasa dream pursue. ViSfckW maybe I'm better than them, but they're still fighters," he said. He was one pound overweight no problem with two hours to shed it until he went to see the team doctor. Dr. Marilyn Boitano didn't give him a choice when the m- (fun Both fighters weighed 127 pounds.

Featherweight Jose Vidal, ranked 12th by the IBF, pounded out a unanimous 10-round decision over Albert Rendon, a 26-year-old deputy sheriff from San Antonio. There were no knockodowns. The 30-year-old Vidal, 130, a native of the Dominican Republican who lives in New York, improved to 33-7-1 with 20 knockouts. Rendon, 131, is 16-12-1. In another bout Stephan Johnson, 147, of New York, stopped previously unbeaten Willy Wise, 148, of Westbury, Ai.

4 career to look forward to. HARRY HAMBURG DAILY NEWS helpless on the ropes with combinationas to the head and referee Joe Santarpia stopped it Wise, who fought a with Johnson in November 1989, is 13-1-2. Lane gets nod as ref LAS VEGAS Veteran referee Mills Lane has been selected as the third man in the ring for Evander Holyfield's heavyweight title defense against former champion Larry Holmes. The Nevada State Athletic Commission selected Lane, a Reno judge, for the scheduled June 19 fight at Caesars Palace. NEW HORIZONS: With the Olympics all but out of the question now, heavyweight Shannon Bnggs has a pro (g7(l causing the referee to halt the bout "I really want another shot at Medina," said Johnson, who is ranked second by the IBF and the WBA.

"This is-my third win this year and everything is pointing toward the rematch. "Tonight I expected him (Seabrooks) to come at me from the opening bell. He laid back and allowed me to do what I wanted. My trainer (Tommy Gallagher) told me to take what comes. If it's a knockout it's a knockout; if not, don't worry.

I just went out and kept throwing punch es. Seabrooks, the 29-year-old feCIBT; Bantamweight titled TOE ASSOCtATED PRESS Featherweight Tom (Boom Boom) Johnson took another step toward a return shot at the title by stopping Kelvin Seabrooks in the seventh round of a scheduled 10-round bout at the Garden's Paramount Theater last night The 27-year-old Johnson, who improved to 29-2-1 with 21 knockouts, landed 24 unanswered punches at one stage of the second round. Seabrooks retired after seven rounds. Johnson lost ta'IBF cham'-f pion Manuel Medina in a title match last November when he acidettlaUytuUedtftS" at 2:29 of the fourth 'roilMSftNamed as judges were a scheduled 10-round TiChuck Giampa of Las Vegas, weight fight Johnson? 18341 den Hamada of Kent, with .12. knPCkwtaplJWjseaaol Carol Castellano New.