In 1998, on this day in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Lennox Lewis won the lineal heavyweight title by TKOing Shannon Briggs in the fifth round. He also successfully defended the WBC heavyweight title.
Although Briggs was prepared to fight, Lewis refused to back down and battled his way through the fight. Lewis struggled during the first few rounds, feeling momentarily unsteady and unable to handle Briggs’ aggressiveness.
But in round three, Lewis’s right hands and a powerful jab reversed the tide of the fight. After taking several blows, Briggs was bleeding profusely, and things only got worse for him in the fourth round. When Lewis’ combinations finally clicked, Briggs was defeated. He rose, although he didn’t appear to be in