Lennox Lewis vs. Željko Mavrović, billed as "Battle of the Giants", was a professional boxing match contested on September 26, 1998 for the WBC and Lineal Heavyweight Championships.
Since recapturing the WBC Heavyweight title in 1997, Lennox Lewis had made three successful defenses. After picking up a disqualification victory over Henry Akinwande due to Akinwande's excessive holding, Lewis impressively defeated his next two opponents, needing only 95 seconds to defeat Andrew Golota by first round knockout, and then, after a slow start, rebounded to defeat Shannon Briggs, knocking him down three times en route to a victory by fifth round technical knockout which added the Lineal Heavyweight title to Lewis' resume. Though Lewis had hoped for a unification match with WBA and IBF Heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, Holyfield still had to make a mandatory defense of his titles against Henry Akinwande, who then pulled out of the fight due to illness and was replaced by Vaughn Bean. As a result, Lewis instead agreed to match with the WBC's number one contender, the undefeated Croatian fighter Željko Mavrović. Despite Mavrović's impressive record, Lewis' trainer Emmanuel Steward was critical of the fighter, stating "He has one of the least impressive records I've seen, there's no important names on it."[1]
The fight
Though Lewis was able to control most of the fight, he was unable to score a knockdown over Mavrović. Lewis was able to land several power punches through the fight, but the punches had seemingly little effect on Mavrović who stood his ground and let Lewis tire himself out by throwing a large amount of punches. However, Mavrović did not generate nearly as much offense as Lewis did, throwing 298 punches, over 200 fewer than Lewis' 507 punches thrown. Ultimately, Lewis was able to pick up the victory by unanimous decision with lopsided scores of 119–109, 117–112, and 117–111.[2]
Aftermath
Lewis' victory over Mavrović coupled with Holyfield's win over Vaughn Bean a week before lead to speculation that the long awaited unification bout between the two would be next. A month after their respective victories, a deal was in place that would see the fight happen early in 1999, but Lewis was reluctant to sign the contract and it was not until November 24 that the match was officially agreed to.[3][4]
lennox, lewis, Željko, mavrović, billed, battle, giants, professional, boxing, match, contested, september, 1998, lineal, heavyweight, championships, battle, giants, dateseptember, 1998venuemohegan, uncasville, connecticuttitle, linewbc, lineal, heavyweight, c. Lennox Lewis vs Zeljko Mavrovic billed as Battle of the Giants was a professional boxing match contested on September 26 1998 for the WBC and Lineal Heavyweight Championships Battle of the Giants DateSeptember 26 1998VenueMohegan Sun in Uncasville ConnecticutTitle s on the lineWBC Lineal Heavyweight ChampionshipsTale of the tapeBoxerLennox LewisZeljko MavrovicNickname The Lion The Fist from Srednjaci HometownLondon EnglandZagreb CroatiaPre fight record33 127 0Height6 ft 5 in 196 cm 6 ft 3 in 191 cm Weight243 lb 110 kg 214 lb 97 kg RecognitionWBC LinealHeavyweight ChampionWBCNo 1 Ranked HeavyweightResultLewis defeated Mavrovic via Unanimous Decision Contents 1 Background 2 The fight 3 Aftermath 4 Undercard 5 Broadcasting 6 ReferencesBackground EditSince recapturing the WBC Heavyweight title in 1997 Lennox Lewis had made three successful defenses After picking up a disqualification victory over Henry Akinwande due to Akinwande s excessive holding Lewis impressively defeated his next two opponents needing only 95 seconds to defeat Andrew Golota by first round knockout and then after a slow start rebounded to defeat Shannon Briggs knocking him down three times en route to a victory by fifth round technical knockout which added the Lineal Heavyweight title to Lewis resume Though Lewis had hoped for a unification match with WBA and IBF Heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield Holyfield still had to make a mandatory defense of his titles against Henry Akinwande who then pulled out of the fight due to illness and was replaced by Vaughn Bean As a result Lewis instead agreed to match with the WBC s number one contender the undefeated Croatian fighter Zeljko Mavrovic Despite Mavrovic s impressive record Lewis trainer Emmanuel Steward was critical of the fighter stating He has one of the least impressive records I ve seen there s no important names on it 1 The fight EditThough Lewis was able to control most of the fight he was unable to score a knockdown over Mavrovic Lewis was able to land several power punches through the fight but the punches had seemingly little effect on Mavrovic who stood his ground and let Lewis tire himself out by throwing a large amount of punches However Mavrovic did not generate nearly as much offense as Lewis did throwing 298 punches over 200 fewer than Lewis 507 punches thrown Ultimately Lewis was able to pick up the victory by unanimous decision with lopsided scores of 119 109 117 112 and 117 111 2 Aftermath EditLewis victory over Mavrovic coupled with Holyfield s win over Vaughn Bean a week before lead to speculation that the long awaited unification bout between the two would be next A month after their respective victories a deal was in place that would see the fight happen early in 1999 but Lewis was reluctant to sign the contract and it was not until November 24 that the match was officially agreed to 3 4 Undercard EditConfirmed bouts 5 Broadcasting EditCountry Broadcaster United Kingdom Sky Sports United States HBOReferences Edit Steward not impressed with Lewis next opponent Sports Illustrated article 1998 07 27 Retrieved on 2013 06 12 Time Now Running Out On Holyfield and Lewis N Y Times article 1998 09 28 Retrieved on 2013 06 12 Holyfield and Lewis Ponder Signing Up for Title Bout N Y Times article 1998 10 17 Retrieved on 2013 06 12 Holyfield and Lewis End Talks and Put Up Fists N Y Times article 1998 11 25 Retrieved on 2013 06 12 BoxRec Event Preceded byvs Shannon Briggs Lennox Lewis s boutsSeptember 26 1998 Succeeded byvs Evander HolyfieldPreceded byvs Vincenzo Cantatore Zeljko Mavrovic s boutsSeptember 26 1998 Retired Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lennox Lewis vs Zeljko Mavrovic amp oldid 1038263813, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
