Lewis had previously been the WBCs number one contender by defeating Razor Ruddock.
Frank Sinatra | Lewis Carroll | Frank Zappa | Frank Lloyd Wright | Jerry Lee Lewis | Jerry Lewis | Frank Capra | Frank Gehry | L. Frank Baum | Lewis | C. S. Lewis | Carl Lewis | Frank Stella | Frank | John Lewis | Frank Herbert | Bruno Mars | Frank Wedekind | Anne Frank | Annie Lennox | Sinclair Lewis | Huey Lewis and the News | Frank Loesser | Bruno Maderna | Frank Langella | Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond | Michael Lewis | Frank Whittle | Juliette Lewis | Frank Keating |
Lewis came into the fight as a 20–1 favorite and paid little attention to his opponent, having began negotiations for his long-awaited match with Tyson while also being challenged to a possible unification match by WBA Heavyweight Champion John Ruiz.
The contract Lewis signed prior to his fight with Holyfield stated that Lewis' first defense of his newly won championship would have to come against the WBA's number one contender, who at the time was Lewis' previous adversary Henry Akinwande but because of illness was later changed to John Ruiz.
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In his previous fight, Lennox Lewis had finally captured the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship, unifying the three major heavyweight titles while also claiming the vacant and less-regarded IBO title after defeating Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision.
Rather than face Lewis, Tyson paid him $4 million to step aside and allow Tyson to challenge Bruce Seldon for the WBA Heavyweight title.
First, Lewis took on WBC's number one ranked heavyweight Tony Tucker and defeated him by a lopsided unanimous decision.
The unofficial Associated Press scorecard had Mercer clearly winning the fight by the score of 97–93, while HBO's unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman scored the bout a draw 95–95.
Though many assumed that Foreman had won the match, (both Harold Lederman and the associated press had Foreman ahead by four points on their unofficial scorecards) the three judges saw differently.
Lennox Lewis vs. Tony Tucker, billed as "Star Spangled Glory", was a professional boxing match contested on May 8, 1993 for the WBC Heavyweight Championship.
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After defeating the WBC's number one ranked heavyweight Donovan "Razor" Ruddock on October 31, 1992, Lennox Lewis became the number one contender for the WBC Heavyweight championship, which at the time was unified with both the WBA and IBF versions of the heavyweight title.
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Though George Foreman had been brought up by Lewis as a possible opponent, he ultimately agreed to face the WBC's number one contender Tony Tucker in his first defense.
Tyson was then given the option to compete on the undercard of Lewis' title defense against Vitali Klitschko on June 21, 2003, after which Tyson would have two additional fight before taking on Lewis in the anticipated rematch would take place.
Tyson would go on to defeat Henry Tillman, Alex Stewart and Donovan Ruddock twice before being arrested and sentenced to prison for rape.
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When Tyson was released in 1995, he returned to boxing and easily defeated journeymen Peter McNeeley and Buster Mathis, Jr. This would setup a rematch with Bruno for Bruno's newly won WBC Heavyweight championship.
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Next for Tyson was a bout against popular British fighter Frank Bruno that was originally set for October 8, 1988 at Wembley Stadium in Bruno's native England.
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Mike Tyson vs. Frank Bruno was a professional boxing match contested on February 25, 1989 for the WBA, WBC, IBF and Lineal Heavyweight championships.