25 years ago, Lennox Lewis dominated the long-awaited fight for the heavyweight crown against Evander Holyfield. After twelve rounds, however, there is no triumph, but one of the most scandalous points judgments in boxing history.
“This, ladies and gentlemen, is a farce. A scandal. A robbery. Lennox Lewis has just been robbed of the undisputed world heavyweight championship. He won it, but didn’t get it,” said HBO commentator Jim Lampley, shocked.
The point verdict given by ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. read out late in the evening of March 13, 1999, caused not only Lampley to shake his head. 21,300 spectators in New York’s Madison Square Garden couldn’t believe their ears. Lennox Lewis, the theft victim, looked incredulous. And his opponent, Evander Holyfield, was also amazed and, at the same time, relieved to have escaped with a draw.
Draw. This result, rare in boxing, was the result of the scores of the three judges on this historic evening in New York. The duel between Lewis and Holyfield was more one-sided than any fight for the championship of all boxing classes in a long time.
Apart from three or at most four rounds, Lewis had won every minute of the long-awaited showdown for the titles of all recognized world associations. After twelve rounds, the Brit was only allowed to take his WBC belt back with him. The glittering waist jewelry of the WBA and IBF remained with Holyfield.
Lewis trainer Steward raged: “This is killing boxing”
The wrath of the boxing world that evening was directed at a man and a woman: Larry O’Connell from England and Eugenia Williams from the USA. While South African judge Stanley Christodoulou did his job and scored 116-113 in favor of Lewis, O’Connell and Williams were either blind or incompetent, both together, or simply corrupt.
The absurd evaluations could not (and cannot) be explained in any other way. Lewis landed 57 percent of his punches in the boxing Mecca and hit his rival’s head or body 348 times. Holyfield, on the other hand, only managed 130 hits – 66 percent of his attempts missed the target.
O’Connell still saw an even duel with 115:115, Williams even scored 115:113 for Holyfield. The neutral journalists’ guild, however, agreed: AP and HBO scored 117:117 for Lewis, boxing historian Steve Farhood from the US channel Showtime immediately put the draw verdict “in my top 5 of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen have.”
Newspaper had to pay compensation to “blind” judge
Lewis was so disgusted that he left the ring without giving the obligatory interview. His coach Emanuel Steward found clear words: “This fight hurts boxing. Every time we want to move the sport forward and organize big fights, this kind of crap happens. It kills boxing,” raged the American coach close to tears.
The duel between the heavyweight world champions should have been a coronation ceremony. For the first time since 1992, all recognized World Cup titles from the major associations were at stake. The judges crashed the Lewis party. Maybe also because promoter godfather Don King was pulling the strings behind the mega fight. The suspicion was obvious.
In any case, the “Sunday Mirror” suspected fraud and reported that Eugenia Williams had collected thousands of dollars to score points for Holyfield. The only people who paid, however, were the newspaper people. Williams sued the reporting. The Mirror had to pay compensation and apologize.
Lennox Lewis received justice eight months later. In the rematch in Las Vegas, the judges saw him unanimously and clearly ahead with Holyfield after twelve much closer rounds. Too clear for some observers. But that didn’t bother anyone on November 13, 1999.
To date, Lewis is the last undisputed heavyweight champion to hold all relevant titles. A successor could finally be crowned on May 18, 2024. The unbeaten world champions Tyson Fury (WBC) and Oleksandr Usyk (WBA, WBO, IBF) meet in Saudi Arabia. The judges have not yet been determined.
Martin Armbruster