Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II victory, rumors of the long-awaited unification match between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. After the Holyfield–Moorer II fight, Lewis would also pick up the "Lineal" Heavyweight championship by defeating Shannon Briggs, the man who had dethroned George Foreman to win the title. With both Holyfield and Lewis now holding all of the major titles, the highly anticipated unification bout looked like it might finally take place. Holyfield would make his mandatory defense against Vaughn Bean, defeating him via unanimous decision, while Lewis faced mandatory challenger Željko Mavrović, also winning his fight via unanimous decision. After these victories, the Holyfield–Lewis fight
Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II Though Moorer narrowly survived round 8, he would not get the chance to continue the fight. After being examined by ringside physician Flip Homansky, it was decided Moorer could not continue and Holyfield was awarded the victory via technical knockout. A disappointed Moorer was seen pleading with Homansky, wanting to continue the fight despite the five knockdowns and trailing Holyfield by a wide margin on the judge's scorecards. Michael Moorer would retire shortly after the fight, eventually returning in 2000 though he was unable to match his previous success, never again fighting for the Heavyweight championship. Almost immediately after his