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 video he released of himself harassing Klitschko at sea, as the latter was paddleboarding. In March 2016, Briggs confronted David Haye at his press conference for the announcement of his fight against little-known Arnold Gjergjaj at the O2 Arena on May 21, 2016. Haye did not agree to fight Briggs immediately but instead offered him the chance to fight on his undercard, promising that he would fight him next if he was victorious. Briggs agreed to this arrangement. On May 3, 2016, it was announced that Briggs would fight 6’7-inch former European heavyweight champion, Alexander Dimitrenko (38-2, 27 KOs). His