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 reached for the Briggs vs. Oquendo fight. CEO of Square Ring Promotions John Wirt told World Boxing News, “We are really excited that we were able to reach an agreement with Kris Lawrence and Henry Rivalta of The Heavyweight Factory.” On March 16, Briggs announced via his Social Media accounts, the fight would take place June 3, 2017 at the Hard Rock Hollywood in Florida. The fight was being billed as "Backyard Brawl". On May 21, 2017, it was reported that Briggs had failed a drug test. He tested positive for 'dramatically increased levels of testosterone'. It was revealed that