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
International Boxing Union (since 1996) was Shannon Briggs, who had his title stripped in 2003 after refusing to face quality opponents. Briggs went on to win the WBO title a few years later, after defeating Sergei Liakhovich in November 2006. Another notable former IBU World Heavyweight Champion is "Fast" Eddie Chambers who captured the title in 2005. The IBU also sports two notable former Lightweight Champions in Gary Balletto and Gregorio Vargas. Balletto was 29-1-2 before losing the IBU Lightweight title to Vargas in 2003. Balletto attempted a comeback in 2006 on ESPN's "The Contender". Other notable fights of the IBU were the two IBU