Lennox Lewis knocked out in the first round. Lewis retained the WBC world title in 1998 when he knocked out lineal champion Shannon Briggs, who had recently outpointed George Foreman in a controversial fight to win the lineal title in five rounds, and beat formerly-undefeated European champion Željko Mavrović from Croatia in a 12-round unanimous decision. Lewis stated in 2006 that his fight with Mavrovic was the most awkward win of his career. On 13 March 1999, Lewis faced WBA and IBF title holder Evander Holyfield in New York City in what was supposed to be a heavyweight unification bout. Lewis fought
Shannon Briggs Briggs' collected sample had almost 8 times the regular amount of testosterone for a man of his age and weight It was said that the fight would be called off, although no official decision was made. The sample was taken on May 14 and tested on May 16. It was also said that the fight was likely to be postponed after Briggs promoters failed to secure TV rights for the fight. A day later, Hitz Boxing and The Heavyweight Factory announced the fight was officially off and they would not reschedule a new date. On July 20, 2017, Briggs was