Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis in a rematch with Bowe, but then lost the titles in his first defense against southpaw Michael Moorer. Shortly after, Lewis lost his WBC heavyweight title to Oliver McCall, putting a Holyfield–Lewis unification bout on hold for several years. By 1996, the four heavyweight titles were separated, partly due to the IBF and WBA stripping George Foreman of their heavyweight titles, though he continued to be recognized as the "lineal" heavyweight champion. Meanwhile, Bruce Seldon defeated Tony Tucker to win the vacant WBA title, while Moorer regained the vacant IBF Heavyweight title he had lost to Foreman by defeating Axel
George Foreman vs. Tommy Morrison title against little-known Michael Bentt in what was perceived to be a warmup before facing Lewis. However, Bentt would unexpectedly score three knockdowns over Morrison en route to a first-round knockout victory that cost Morrison his title match against Lewis. Foreman initially stuck with his retirement plans and spent a year and a half without participating in a boxing match. However, Foreman decided to challenge the newly crowned WBA and IBF heavyweight champion Michael Moorer for his titles to which Moorer accepted. Moorer was having little trouble with Foreman and was ahead on all three scorecards when Foreman hit him