Editing Lennox Lewis (section)

===First reign as unified heavyweight champion===
{{Main|Lennox Lewis vs. Michael Grant|Lennox Lewis vs. Francois Botha|Lennox Lewis vs. David Tua}}
After Lewis defeated Holyfield the WBA ordered Lewis to defend the title against [[John Ruiz]] of Chelsea, Massachusetts, who was then an obscure [[Don King (boxing promoter)|Don King]] fighter who had been made the WBA's number one-ranked contender. The WBA gave permission for Lewis to fight his WBC mandatory [[Michael Grant (boxer)|Michael Grant]] first if he would fight Ruiz next, to which Lewis agreed. Opposed to this, King challenged this decision in court on the basis of a clause in the Lewis-Holyfield rematch contract that said Lewis's first bout as undisputed champion would be against the WBA's number one contender. Lewis was therefore to be stripped of his WBA belt if he fought Grant first. It was because of this that the WBA instated its "Super Champion" title, giving unified titleholders who also hold a WBA belt more time to defend against mandatory challengers.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}

Lewis proceeded to fight the 203&nbsp;cm (6 foot 7 inch) American Michael Grant, whom he considered the best contender available. He successfully defended his WBC, IBO and IBF titles against Grant with a second-round knockout victory in Madison Square Garden in April 2000.

Later that same year, Lewis knocked out South African [[Francois Botha]] in two rounds in London, before winning a 12-round decision against New Zealander and IBF mandatory opponent, [[David Tua]] in Las Vegas.

==== Lewis vs. Rahman ====
{{Main|Lennox Lewis vs. Hasim Rahman}}
On 21 April 2001, Lewis was knocked out by 20-to-1 underdog [[Hasim Rahman]] in a bout at Carnival City Casino<ref>{{cite web |url=https://goldengloves.co.za/boxing-news/lennox-lewis-vs-hasim-rahman/ |title=Lennox Lewis vs. Hasim Rahman |website=goldengloves.co.za |date=15 July 2020 |access-date=22 July 2021 }}</ref> in South Africa. The main event actually took place on Sunday 22 April 2001 at 05:00 local time<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lancaster|first=Rob|title=Thunder in Africa: Recalling Hasim Rahman's Shock Win Over Lennox Lewis|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2438671-thunder-in-africa-recalling-hasim-rahmans-shock-win-over-lennox-lewis|access-date=2020-10-12|website=Bleacher Report|language=en}}</ref> in order to accommodate [[HBO]]s significant United States–based audience at a reasonable hour on the Saturday night. Before the bout, Lewis had a role in the film ''[[Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)|Ocean's Eleven]]'' in which he "boxed" against [[Wladimir Klitschko]].