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
Boxing on NBC (or technically, WNBT, which would eventually becoming NBC's flagship affiliate, WNBC) became the first American television network to broadcast a boxing match. Emanating from Yankee Stadium in New York City, Bill Stern provided the blow-by-blow commentary for the fight between Lou Nova and Max Baer. On the premiere episode of "Cavalcade of Sports" (airing on September 29, 1944), NBC broadcast a 15-round bout between Willie Pep and Chalky Wright. On June 19, 1946, at Yankee Stadium, Joe Louis defeated Billy Conn in the first televised World Heavyweight Championship bout ever. 146,000 people watched it on TV, also setting a record