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 A deal wasn't reached by February 2 and the WBA ordered a purse bid to take place on February 13, 2017. Although some promoters were interested in the fight, there was issues being raised around the minimum bid of $1 million, being too high. A bid of $400,000 was made by The Heavyweight Factory representative Henry Rivalta, on behalf of Briggs however not being valid due to not meeting the minimum requirement. The WBA ordered another purse bid to take place on February 23. On February 23, Square Ring Promotions and Hitz Entertainment Corporation announced that a deal had been