By: Sean Crose

It was probably bound to happen at some point. Boxing had lost a lot of good will when Mike Tyson had dined on Evander Holyfield’s ear less than two years earlier, after all. Yet it was the events of March 13th, 1999 that managed to make an even bigger impact. Sure enough that was the night boxing effectively left the mainstream…and it only had itself to blame. Although never as dominant as Tyson, Holyfield had bested the man twice, thus making himself the unquestioned King of the heavyweight division. The truth was that the reign of Tyson was over, and Holyfield was now in the position to take things from there.

Standing in his way however was the towering Lennox Lewis. Lewis was one of the 1990s superstar fighters, but he didn’t get the credit he deserved. This had something to do with Riddick Bowe not wanting to fight him, and the fact that his peers could make a lot more money fighting each other. All good things come to those who wait they say, and that proved to be the case with Lewis. For after finally landing a major fight against one of his equals, Lewis stood on the cusp of being the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. All he had to do was defeat Holyfield… that however was no easy task.

While Holyfield had the betting edge, there was no doubt it was going to be a close fight. And a close fight it was, with each man having his moments. It appeared though that Lewis had clearly done enough to win largely through the use of his height and very impressive jab. The decision of the judges however, ended up putting boxing on its back. Rather than being crowned undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. Lewis had to settle for a majority draw.

This was the sort of thing that boxing absolutely positively did not need. After the chaotic Tyson era, the sport was looking to continue on as a high-profile affair. It wouldn’t be able to anymore, though, not after the judges handed in their cards that night at Madison Square Garden. I remember talking to friends while walking through a supermarket after that weekend. The fight had clearly not only impacted the boxing world, but on the sports world as a whole. Timothy W Smith wrote in the New York Times that: “On this ignominious night, no one got what they wanted, least of all Lennox Lewis.” Emmanuel Steward, Lewis’ trainer claimed that: “This is what is killing boxing.” The legendary trainer was more correct than even he might have imagined.

Boxing had been a sport loaded with questionable decisions and bad leadership. What made 1999 so different however, was that people had finally had enough. The days of the sport being part of the American conversation were over. There had simply been too many bad decisions, too many insane antics, like Tyson chewing Holyfield’s ear or the time a few years earlier when a man actually attempted to land a paraglider in the ring. There was the feeling, perhaps that no one was in control. That feeling remains to this day. No one in North America even knows who the lineal heavyweight champion of the world is. That may be an exaggeration, but it sure isn’t much of one.

There’s a terrific cruiserweight matchup on Saturday between two dangerous fighters – David Benavidez and Zurdo Ramierez. Aside from rolling pay per view ads, there’s no buzz outside perhaps Vegas. That’s too bad, but it’s a sign of the position boxing put itself in on that March night a quarter century ago. I’ve been a huge boxing fan all my life, but since Holyfield-Lewis I, there have been fewer and fewer people willing to talk about the sweet science with. People are still fed up.