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
Evander Holyfield vs. Michael Moorer II both the WBA and IBF titles after refusing to fight Tony Tucker and Axel Schulz respectively. The vacant WBA title was then won by Bruce Seldon, who then lost the title to Mike Tyson. Tyson's first defense was against Holyfield, who earned an upset victory by 11th-round technical knockout to regain the WBA Heavyweight title. He would then successfully defend the title in a rematch with Tyson after Tyson was disqualified in the third round for biting Holyfield's ears. Meanwhile, Moorer would face Axel Schulz to determine who would win the vacant IBF Heavyweight title, winning the contest by spit