S. Briggs "Linear HWeight Champ"?

The Feature Article on boxingscene's home page, by David Selwyn, can be added to the list of recent articles and posts that provide stoked-up views regarding Shannon Brigg's supposed "come back". Like so many other writer's, David Selwyn refers to Briggs as the "One time Linear Heavyweight Champion". This seems to be an empty claim. I've always assumed that Linear is applied to " the guy that beat the guy" or, if the reigning Champ retires as Champ, the next guy (like Vitali for instance) can only gain the Linear title by unifying the division or beating every credible contender. Briggs had his shot at Lennox and, if he'd had prevailed, he would unquestionably been the Linear guy. But, he's been given the "Linear" tag just the same. Is it because he held a version of the Heavy title? In that case, do we have four "Linear Champs" today in Vitali, Byrd, Ruiz and Brewster? I'd really like to hear Selwyn's response on this one.