He was the kid who was never chosen for the team. A severe asthmatic since infancy, Shannon Briggs always felt different than the other kids. Born three months early, his lungs were underdeveloped. His respiratory difficulties persisted and he was hospitalized multiple times as a child. Wanting to be active like the other children, he tried out for the basketball team, but wasn’t picked. As a teenager, he tried to get into two different gyms before beginning his boxing training, finally forging his mother’s signature to get in.

His asthma briefly seemed to go away in his late teens for about two years, but returned just as bad as before. Loving the sport, he refused to give up, fighting and winning against boxing greats including Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson. However, unknown to many, he also struggled against an enemy far more threatening—asthma. With his asthma attacks being triggered by cold air, stress, and allergies, he never knew when an asthma attack might happen, sometimes in the middle of a fight.

“For years I was ashamed and tried to hide my asthma,” says Shannon. “I took a lot of criticism from the media. Now I’m proud. I go into the fight with a disadvantage. You can go for weeks without food and days without water, but you can’t go five minutes without oxygen.” During fights, learning to hide his asthma was critical, not wanting his opponent to realize that he was vulnerable.

Refusing to let asthma beat him, he learned to pace himself during training and during fights, becoming the two-time heavyweight champion of the world. His most recent severe struggle with asthma came during March of 2007. Diagnosed with pneumonia, he had to cancel and reschedule his fight against Sultan Ibragimov for two months later. Still not fully recuperated, he lost the fight.

As usual, Briggs doesn’t give up. In addition to continuing his training schedule and pursuing other business interests, he also has found the time and energy to develop an acting career, starring in “Bad Boys 2” with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as well as in “Transporter 2” with Jason Statham and Matthew Modine.

Now the proud father of two young sons ages 2 and 10 years, the youngest of which also has asthma, Shannon Briggs has made a commitment to the world, to his children, and to himself that he will work towards helping other asthmatics, especially kids, learn to fight asthma and never give up!

Next week: Part 2—Shannon Briggs’ Advice for Asthmatics!