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 reached for the Briggs vs. Oquendo fight. CEO of Square Ring Promotions John Wirt told World Boxing News, “We are really excited that we were able to reach an agreement with Kris Lawrence and Henry Rivalta of The Heavyweight Factory.” On March 16, Briggs announced via his Social Media accounts, the fight would take place June 3, 2017 at the Hard Rock Hollywood in Florida. The fight was being billed as "Backyard Brawl". On May 21, 2017, it was reported that Briggs had failed a drug test. He tested positive for 'dramatically increased levels of testosterone'. It was revealed that