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 Shannon Briggs Shannon Briggs (born December 4, 1971) is an American professional boxer. A twenty-year veteran of the sport, he is twice a former world heavyweight champion, having held the lineal title from 1997 to 1998, and the WBO title from 2006 to 2007. Born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, Briggs was homeless for a period in his childhood. In 1983, when Briggs was 12, he saw Mike Tyson in Bristol Park, Brooklyn, New York. Briggs' friends called out, "Here comes Mike." Briggs said he was too scared to run and that seeing