November 13th, 1999 was the date in which Lennox Lewis unified the heavyweight crown, the first British heavyweight boxer to do so in over 100 years since Bob Fitzsimmons did so in 1896. But Lewis did not achieve such a feat without some controversy, as there are quite a few fans out there who honestly thought that the “Real Deal” should have won the return since managing a heavily disputed draw in New York 8 months earlier.
Holyfield was dominated by the jab and had trouble finding a solution in their first fight, but somehow the three judges concluded that both champions should retain their belts, a decision that caused a media storm for months until the two combatants did it again in Las Vegas.
Evander looked like a different boxer that time around, as he sustained a busy work rate and hitting Lewis with hurtful hooks upstairs. However, the Brit rectified what went wrong in their earlier encounter and added the IBF and WBA belts to the WBC title that he had managed to win back when he beat Oliver McCall in bizarre circumstances in February of 1997.
But I think it is fascinating to ask if Lennox would have been remembered as fondly now if he had actually lost the rematch with the most gutsiest of heavyweights?
This question cannot be answered without taking a guess about Evander’s position if he had hypothetically won. I do recall coming across a claim from Holyfield that he had either a shoulder or arm injury which allegedly hampered his performance against Lennox in their first fight. However, I cannot find any further information about that at the time of writing this. Nevertheless, if that claim was true then a win over Lewis certainly would have lent more credit to it. There is also little doubt in my mind that Holyfield would have redeemed himself in the eyes of many after his poor showing in their original fight.
I believe whether Lennox’s overall legacy would have been affected may have depended on how a third fight would have played out. There were actually talks about a third bout shortly after the rematch had taken place although nothing ever had come to fruition. If the West Ham born fighter had won convincingly then I don’t think there would have been much of a problem with how the public would have viewed him. But if he had struggled then there would have been more of a risk, although it would not have been that surprising to have seen Evander give as good as he often got.
If the third fight never took place then the Mike Tyson fight likely would never have happened, nor would Lewis have gotten opportunities to fight the best that the division had to offer at the time such as Michael Grant. I can see the Americans taking the view that Lewis was yet another overhyped British boxer who went to America to try and prove himself and failed like many others did. But the British would have been proud to still have him as an ambassador for England. We seem to love losers.
Generally, Lennox would have gone down as a decent world champion who came up short against the very best.
