George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs was a professional boxing match contested on November 22, 1997 for the "Lineal" heavyweight championship. After capturing the WBA and IBF titles from Michael Moorer late in 1994, George Foreman would forfeit his WBA title and make only one defense of his IBF portion, narrowly and controversially defeating little-known German fighter Axel Schulz on April 22, 1995. Though the IBF mandated a rematch between the two, Foreman decided against it and chose instead to forfeit the title. As he had not been beaten for either title, Foreman remained the "Lineal"
Michael Moorer wasn't considered an authentic heavyweight title. Ironically, Moorer has always been recognized as a former light heavyweight champion despite only ever holding the WBO title at that weight. Moorer's first defense came against Botha on November 9, 1996. In a brutal one-sided bout, Moorer, leading on the cards going into the 12th, ended with a flourish, knocking Botha out with 18 seconds left in the bout. In March 1997, Moorer retained his belt with a 12-round decision over previously undefeated Vaughn Bean before parting ways with trainer Teddy Atlas, with whom he'd been experiencing increasing tension since the beginning of