HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Things took a turn for the worse after former heavyweight champ Shannon Briggs was seen taunting current champ Vladimir Klitschko at Mama Mia's in Hollywood.
It happened Friday afternoon while Klitschko was enjoying a quiet lunch. At one point Briggs even grabbed the champ's pasta and started eating his food.
Klitschko kept his cool and then attempted to cool off Briggs by throwing a drink in his face. That's when the heated exchange turned physical. Bodyguards eventually stepped in and broke it up.
"I just heard screaming and I looked over and I didn't know who anybody was," said restaurant owner Joey Franco.
Franco said the video only shows half of the altercation and said the confrontation actually started outside.
"Briggs opened the door and said come outside champ, come outside champ and that's where it started," said Franco. "And then he said I'll come in there, things like that."
It's well known in boxing circles that Briggs, on the tail end of his career, is looking for one more payday, and nothing would pay better than to mix it up with the current heavyweight champ.
Until now, Klitschko has mostly ignored Brigg's challenge. Franco's just glad he didn't accept it in the middle of his restaurant.
"We just tried to break it up," said Franco. "Once we saw that things were breaking, and before they destroyed the place, we just tried to push them out."
Franco says a few plates and wine glasses were broken during the fight. There's some speculation that the whole thing was a set up or staged, but Franco told Local 10 News it sure seemed real to him.