Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II In an effort to unify the three titles, the WBA and IBF organizations announced a unification bout between Holyfield and Moorer set for November 8, 1997. The two men had previously fought each other on April 22, 1994 for Holyfield's WBA, IBF and "Lineal" Heavyweight championships. In a close fight, Moorer earned an upset victory over Holyfield to become the first southpaw to win a major Heavyweight title. However, his reign would not last long as he was defeated by 45-year-old George Foreman via 10th-round knockout in his first defense of the titles. Foreman, however, would eventually be stripped of
Heavyweight boxing championship records and statistics inducted into the armed forces. He was stripped of WBC and WBA titles but remained The Ring and lineal boxing champion, despite not having a boxing match until October 1970. In 2005, Ukrainian boxer Vitali Klitschko retired as WBC Champion. Following his retirement, the WBC conferred "champion emeritus" status on Klitschko, and assured him he would become the mandatory challenger if and when he decided to return. On August 3, 2008 the WBC awarded Klitschko a chance to regain his WBC Heavyweight title against then-champion Samuel Peter. Vitali regained the title after Peter asked the bout be stopped after the