Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis II

"Unfinished Business"

Date	November 13, 1999
Location	Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada
Title(s) on the line	WBA/WBC/IBF/IBO/Lineal Heavyweight Championships
Evander Holyfield vs.  Lennox Lewis
"The Real Deal"		"The Lion"
Tale of the tape
Atlanta, Georgia, US	From	London, England
36–3–1	Pre-fight record	34–1–1
WBA/IBF Heavyweight Champion	Recognition	WBC/Lineal Heavyweight Champion

Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis II, billed as "Unfinished Business", was a professional boxing match contested on November 13, 1999 for the WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO and Lineal Heavyweight championships.

Background

The two fighters had met eight months prior in Madison Square Garden. Though Lewis had seemingly done enough to win, the bout was declared a draw, with one judge ruling the fight in favor of Lewis 116–113, another scoring the fight in Holyfield's favor with a score of 115–113 and the third declaring the fight even at 115–115.^[1] The ruling became one of the most controversial in boxing history, and as such, the three sanctioning bodies quickly ordered a rematch between the two.^[2] A week after their controversial first fight, Holyfield and Lewis officially agreed to the rematch, with the fight's $30 million purse being evenly split between the two fighters.^[3] The match was originally scheduled for September, but it was later pushed back to November 13, with Las Vegas' Thomas & Mack Center being announced as the site of the fight.^[4] Ironically, the fight would take place exactly seven years after Riddick Bowe had defeated Holyfield to become the last Undisputed Heavyweight champion. In addition to the four titles the two men held being on the line, the vacant IBO Heavyweight title was also up for grabs.

The fight

Like in the previous fight, it was Lewis who was able to gain the early edge winning both rounds 1 and 2. Lewis would win a close round 3 on two of the judges scorecards, but a late rally from Holyfield during the final 30 seconds in which he landed a hard right hand to the side of Lewis' head before landing several more punches just before the round ended helped him win the round on the third judges scorecard. Holyfield would finally breakthrough after round 4, winning rounds 5, 6 and 7. In an entertaining round 7, the two fighters would go toe-to-toe in the middle of ring during the final 20 seconds, landing several punches on each other prior to the bell. Lewis would then seize control of the fight winning rounds 8 through 11. The two men fought a close round 12, but Lewis again took the round on two of the judge's scorecards. Lewis was then named the winner by unanimous decision with scores of 115–113, 116–112 and 117–111, becoming the first Undisputed Heavyweight Champion in nearly seven years.^[5]

Aftermath

Lewis' reign as Undisputed Heavy champion would last less than six months. The WBA wanted Lewis to defend the championship against their number one contender John Ruiz, however, Lewis wanted to first defend his titles against Michael Grant. The WBA and Lewis agreed that he would fight Grant first followed by Ruiz. Ruiz's promoter challenged the decision in court and a clause was found in Lewis' contract that stated the winner of the Holyfield–Lewis fight would first defend his titles against the WBA's number one contender. Because of this, Lewis was stripped of his WBA title.^[6] He would proceed with his match against Grant, successfully defending his remaining titles after defeating Grant by 2nd round knockout.

The WBA would then chose Holyfield to face Ruiz for the vacant WBA Heavyweight title. Holyfield would defeat Ruiz by unanimous decision to regain the title, becoming the first four-time Heavyweight champion in boxing history in the process. He would lose the title to Ruiz in his next fight and then fight Ruiz a third time, this time to a draw. He would next meet another Lewis rival, Hasim Rahman, to determine who would face Lewis for the Heavyweight championship. Though Holyfield would earn the victory, Lewis instead chose to face Mike Tyson and Lewis–Holyfield III never materialized.

References

1. Lewis Lands The Punches, But Holyfield Gets The Draw, Chicago Tribune article, 1999-03-14, Retrieved on 2013-08-10
2. A Rematch For Holyfield and Lewis Is Ordered, N.Y. Times article, 1999-03-15, Retrieved on 2013-08-10
3. September Rematch for Holyfield and Lewis, N.Y. Times article, 1999-03-22, Retrieved on 2013-08-10
4. Holyfield-Lewis rematch set for November 13, ESPN article, 1999-08-28, Retrieved on 2013-08-10
5. Triumph of Timidity, Sports Illustrated article, 1999-11-22, Retrieved on 2013-08-10
6. Hard-Hitting Federal Judge Strips Lewis of WBA Title, L.A. Times article, 2000-04–13, Retrieved on 2013-08-10