In his previous fight, Lennox Lewis had finally captured the undisputed heavyweight championship, unifying the three major heavyweight titles (and retaining the lightly regarded IBO belt) after defeating Evander Holyfield by unanimous decision. 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. However, Lewis refused to face Ruiz and instead agreed to match with undefeated prospect Michael Grant.

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