Holyfield vs. Lewis I, round by
round
Round 1
Lewis threw a left hook that barely missed. Lewis got in a jab and they
clinched. Holyfield's first punch was a sweeping hook that was short. Not
much landed in the first 30 seconds. They were trying to figure each other
out. Neither was throwing much as the first minute passed. Lewis missed
with a right. There was a lot of feinting, little punching. Lewis got in
two stiff jabs, then another. Then they went back to posing. Holyfield missed
an overhead right at 2 minutes. Lewis landed a right to the head, then two
good jabs. Holyfield landed a left hook to the jaw at 2:43, Lewis countered
with a jab. Holyfield picked up Lewis and threw him down right at the bell.
Referee Arthur Mercante Jr. brought them together and talked to them
after the bell rang.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| Larry
O'Connell |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
10-9 |
| Stanley
Christodoulou |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
10-9 |
| Williams |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
10-9 |
| SportsLine |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
10-9 |
Round 2
Lewis connected with three jabs as Holyfield circled away. Lewis landed
a hard right, then another and trapped Holyfield on the ropes with 30
seconds left. Lewis got in another jab. The action slowed again near the
minute mark. There wasn't a punch landed for almost a minute when Lewis
got in a left jab. Lewis landed another jab and missed with a right. Lewis
got in a short right with 40 seconds left. Lewis landed a right uppercut
and the crowd roared. Holyfield was doing little.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
20-18 |
| Christodoulou |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
20-18 |
| Williams |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
20-18 |
| SportsLine |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
20-18 |
Round 3
This was the round in which Holyfield said he would score a knockout.
According to a punch count, Holyfield landed eight punches the first two
rounds.
The crowd roared as the round started. Lewis landed a jab and a right,
then another right. They tied up and Mercante warned Lewis for pushing.
Lewis landed two jabs and Holyfield had trouble getting inside. Holyfield
landed a right to the head. Holyfield had two punches blocked, then got
in a right. He was trying to land a big punch. Lewis got in two jabs after
about 1:15. Holyfield landed a hard left and hard right and pinned Lewis
in the corner. Lewis landed a couple jabs. Lewis landed a short right
uppercut, then another right hand. Lewis landed a left-right. Lewis landed
a stiff jab with 50 seconds left. Holyfield landed a jab and short hook,
then a right hand and a hard right, then another. Holyfield threw a wild
right before the bell.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
29-28 |
| Christodoulou |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
29-28 |
| Williams |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
29-28 |
| SportsLine |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
29-28 |
Round 4
They met in the center of the ring but did little. Lewis threw several
soft jabs. They were back to posing early in the round. Lewis got in a
couple more soft jabs as Holyfield was doing very little. They became
tangled at midround and almost fell. Lewis landed a right and a short
hook. Lewis landed two or three jabs. Holyfield landed a good left hook
and right hand at the minute mark. Another left was blocked. Lewis went
back to jabbing.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
39-37 |
| Christodoulou |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
39-37 |
| Williams |
H 10-9 |
Even
38-38 |
| SportsLine |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
39-37 |
Round 5
Lewis opened the fifth with two light jabs and Holyfield jabbed back.
Lewis came back with two jabs. Lewis landed a short right to the head,
then another when Holyfield missed. Lewis landed a big right, then another,
a right to the body. Holyfield didn't punch back. Lewis landed a right
uppercut and a left, then a right and then another. After a right to the
head by Lewis, Holyfield finally managed to get off the ropes. They moved
to the center of the ring. Action slowed until Holyfield landed two shots
to the head and one to the body. Lewis shook Holyfield with a right with
15 seconds left. Lewis landed a right to the body.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
49-46 |
| Christodoulou |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
49-46 |
| Williams |
H 10-9 |
Holyfield
48-47 |
| SportsLine |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
49-46 |
Round 6
Holyfield came out jabbing and the much taller Lewis got in a jab to the
head. Holyfield landed a hard right but missed a big hook. Lewis blocked
two punches then landed a left-right to the head. Lewis got in a jab with
a minute gone. Action slowed. Lewis got in a right lead and a left with
1:25 gone. Lewis got in a jab at 1:45, followed by a hard right uppercut.
Action slowed again. Lewis landed a hard right and left with 30 seconds
to go, then circled away from Holyfield. Lewis landed a right lead and
Holyfield was wild with a hook. Lewis landed a right lead, then another,
and walked away from Holyfield.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
58-56 |
| Christodoulou |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
59-55 |
| Williams |
L 10-9 |
Even
57-57 |
| SportsLine |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
58-56 |
Round 7
At the end of six rounds, Lewis had connected on 168 punches, Holyfield
60. They wrestled each other down 20 seconds into the round and the referee
warned them. Lewis hit Holyfield on the break, but wasn't warned. Holyfield
laid on the ropes and Lewis tapped at him with the left hand. This fight
was being fought in fits and starts. Holyfield landed a right to the body,
then Lewis landed two rights to the head. Two right hands by Lewis backed
up Holyfield at 1:40. Lewis landed a right uppercut and a right to the
head, then missed a right. Another right lead by Lewis, then another.
``Lewis! Lewis!'' was the chant. Lewis landed two jabs. Holyfield looked
his 36 years of age. Lewis landed a right to the body. Holyfield missed
a right to the body. Holyfield's left eye appeared to be closing.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
E 10-10 |
Lewis
68-66 |
| Christodoulou |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
69-64 |
| Williams |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
67-66 |
| SportsLine |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
68-65 |
Round 8
Lewis landed a right to open the round. Action slowed as it did in several
previous rounds. Hardly anything happened the first minute before Lewis
got in three jabs. Holyfield was having trouble getting close to the 6-foot-5
Lewis. Holyfield landed two rights, and Lewis landed a right as Holyfield
backed away. Lewis landed a right hook to the head, then a short right
lead. Lewis landed a right lead to the head. Holyfield landed a right
uppercut with 45 seconds left. They clinched with 20 seconds left and
Mercante broke them. Lewis landed two hard right leads and two jabs at
the bell.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
77-76 |
| Christodoulou |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
78-74 |
| Williams |
H 10-9 |
Even
76-76 |
| SportsLine |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
78-74 |
Round 9
Lewis opened with a stiff jab, then two more jabs. The left side of Holyfield's
face was badly swollen. He was having trouble getting inside with Lewis,
who had a 6-inch reach advantage. Lewis landed a stiff jab at the minute
mark. Holyfield landed a couple jabs and missed a big right with 1:12
left. Lewis landed two more jabs to Holyfield's face. Lewis landed a short
right to the head as Holyfield came in with 45 seconds left. Lewis landed
a stiff jab after they broke from a clinch, then a right to Holyfield's
left eye followed by two jabs.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
H 10-9 |
Even
86-86 |
| Christodoulou |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
87-84 |
| Williams |
H 10-9 |
Holyfield
86-85 |
| SportsLine |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
88-83 |
Round 10
Lewis opened the round with a couple jabs. Holyfield landed two rights
to the head before Lewis could tie him up on the ropes. Lewis landed a
stiff jab. Holyfield landed a hard right at 1:05, then came back with
a jab and Lewis tied him up. Lewis landed a right to the head 20 seconds
later, then a jab. There was swelling under Lewis' left eye. Lewis landed
a hard right at 2 minutes. Then he circled away from Holyfield. Lewis
got in a right lead and a left to the body. Lewis got in a jab with 30
seconds left, then another.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
E 10-10 |
Even
96-96 |
| Christodoulou |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
96-94 |
| Williams |
H 10-9 |
Holyfield
96-94 |
| SportsLine |
H 10-9 |
Lewis
97-93 |
Round 11
Lewis opened with a 1-2 and was bouncing on his toes. He landed two jabs.
Holyfield was bouncing, but not punching. Holyfield's left was blocked
by Lewis, who wrapped his arms around him when Holyfield got close. Lewis'
size made a major difference. Lewis got in a stiff jab at the minute mark,
then a hard right to the head. Every time Holyfield got close, Lewis tied
him up. Action slowed at the 2-minute mark. Holyfield got in a solid right,
Lewis threw a jab. The two did a lot of feinting and missing. Lewis landed
a hard right after Holyfield missed. Lewis got in a stiff jab.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
H 10-9 |
Holyfield
106-105 |
| Christodoulou |
E 10-10 |
Lewis
106-104 |
| Williams |
H 10-9 |
Holyfield
106-103 |
| SportsLine |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
107-102 |
Round 12
Lewis talked with Holyfield as they touched gloves for the final round.
Lewis scored a couple jabs, then caught two rights to Holyfield's head.
Lewis got in a jab. Again, there were chants of ``Lewis! Lewis!'' Action
slowed for a time. They clinched in the center as Lewis' British fans
sang at the top of their lungs. There was little action in the ring as
the fight reached the final minute. Lewis got in a couple soft jabs to
Holyfield's badly swollen face. Lewis landed a stiff jab with 38 seconds
left, then a hard right lead and another. Lewis landed a right-left, then
another right-left and a hard right buckled Holyfield. With six seconds
left, Lewis threw his arms up in triumph.
|
Judge |
Score |
Total |
| O'Connell |
L 10-9 |
Draw
115-115 |
| Christodoulou |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
116-113 |
| Williams |
L 10-9 |
Holyfield
115-113 |
| SportsLine |
L 10-9 |
Lewis
117-111 |
|
