Lineal championship For example, George Foreman was considered lineal champion from 1994 until 1997, when Shannon Briggs beat him. After the WBA and IBF stripped him of their titles in 1995, Foreman fought only two, low-ranked opponents before Briggs. The lineal champion is not necessarily the boxer viewed as the best. Cyber Boxing Zone and BoxingScene considered Zsolt Erdei the lineal light-heavyweight champion from his 2004 defeat of Julio César González until 2009, when he vacated his title and moved up to cruiserweight; as he had not fought the highest-ranked opponents in the interim, Cliff Rold conceded, "while the concept of a
Shannon Briggs however, Briggs pulled out of the fight because he was diagnosed with "aspiration pneumonia." The fight was rescheduled fifty days later in Atlantic City on June 2, 2007, with Briggs losing in a unanimous decision 117–111, 119–109, and 115–113. After winning the first round, Briggs slowed down and did not have the aggressiveness, accuracy or stamina to compete with Ibragimov. At 273 pounds, Briggs was as heavy as he had been in his career. Briggs entered having won 12 consecutive fights prior to this and announced his retirement immediately following the bout. Briggs returned in 2009 and scored his twenty-ninth