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
George Foreman vs. Shannon Briggs champion and successfully defended that crown (as well as the lowly regarded WBU heavyweight title) against then-undefeated prospects Crawford Grimsley and Lou Savarese. Following his win over Savarese, Foreman was given the opportunity to face Lennox Lewis for Lewis' WBC heavyweight title, with Foreman first having to win an "eliminator" bout against a contender. The WBC supplied Foreman with a list of acceptable opponents, including future heavyweight champions Chris Byrd and Hasim Rahman and the recently returned former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion James "Buster" Douglas, though Foreman ultimately picked Briggs. Coming into the fight, Briggs sported a 29–1 record with 24