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
Sultan Ibragimov vs. Evander Holyfield Sultan Ibragimov vs. Evander Holyfield Sultan Ibragimov vs. Evander Holyfield, was a professional boxing match contested on 13 October 2007 for the WBO heavyweight championship. Following Ibragimov's decision victory over Shannon Briggs to win the WBO belt in June 2007 he agreed to face WBA champion Ruslan Chagaev, however Chagaev contracted hepatitis B and pulled out. After his poor performance against Larry Donald in November 2004 New York State Athletic Commission suspended the former four-time heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, leading a 21 month absence from the ring. He returned to defeat his next four opponents before agreeing to stand in