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 vs. George Foreman had not fought since being defeated by Tommy Morrison for the then-fringe World Boxing Organization championship. There were talks about Moorer possibly meeting WBC Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis in a match that would once again unify the three major heavywight titles, but Moorer rejected the idea, stating that he didn't have the desire to do so. Foreman then issued a challenge to the newly crowned champion, and his status as one of the most popular fighters in the sport along with the promise of a big payday led to Moorer ultimately accepting Foreman's challenge. However, the fight almost did not