After Riddick Bowe defeated Evander Holyfield to become the Undisputed Heavyweight champion, the WBC ordered Bowe to face its number one contender, the undefeated Lennox Lewis. Bowe, however, refused to meet Lewis' financial demands and subsequently vacated the title rather than face Lewis and in turn, the WBC named Lewis its Heavyweight champion. Holyfield was able to regain the WBA, IBF and Lineal heavyweight titles in a rematch with Bowe, but then lost the titles in his first defense against Michael Moorer. Shortly after, Lewis would lose his WBC Heavyweight title to Oliver McCall, putting the much anticipated Holyfield–Lewis unification bout on hold for several years. Prior to the fight Lewis would hire Holyfield's former trainer Emanuel Steward, meanwhile, the normally mild-mannered Holyfield would uncharacteristically predict that he would dominate the first two rounds before knocking out Lewis in the third.