One Big Night
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| Date | May 10, 1996 |
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| Venue | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. |
One Big Night was a professional boxing card contested at Madison Square Garden on May 10, 1996.
Promoted by Main Events and broadcast by HBO, the card featured three televised non-title heavyweight bouts; Tim Witherspoon vs. Jorge Luis González, Lennox Lewis vs. Ray Mercer and Evander Holyfield vs. Bobby Czyz.
Background
[edit]Following victories over heavyweight contenders Lionel Butler and Tommy Morrison, Lennox Lewis was now regarded as the number one contender for the WBC Heavyweight Title, which was then held by Frank Bruno. However, the WBC chose to bypass Lewis and instead sanctioned a championship bout between Bruno and Mike Tyson, who had returned to boxing the previous year after serving over three years in prison. Lewis brought the matter to court, claiming that he, not Tyson, deserved to face Bruno for the WBC title, but he was unable to secure the match as the court ruled in favor of the Bruno–Tyson fight.[1][2] As such, Lewis agreed to meet fellow 1988 Olympic Gold Medalist and former WBO titleholder Ray Mercer in what was to be a tuneup fight for what was originally supposed to lead to a fight between Lewis and Riddick Bowe later in the year.
The Lewis–Mercer fight was one of three high-profile fights put together for the return of boxing to Madison Square Garden. Also included on the card were Jorge Luis González vs. Tim Witherspoon and top of the bill was Evander Holyfield vs. Bobby Czyz.[3]
Witherspoon vs. González
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| Witherspoon wins via fifth-round technical knockout | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The first bout of the televised broadcast saw former two-time heavyweight champion Tim Witherspoon against former heavyweight contender Jorge Luis González, who was nearly one year removed from his WBO heavyweight title fight against Riddick Bowe. Witherspoon had suffered a broken hand in his previous fight, also at Madison Square Garden, against Al Cole in January, leaving his status uncertain for the One Big Night card, though the injury had healed enough for him to commit to face González.[4]
Witherspoon controlled the fight and ended it during the final minute in the fifth round. Witherspoon caught González against the ropes and landed a series of right and left hooks to the head of González. Stunned, González tried in vain to clinch Witherspoon, but failed and was hit cleanly with more hooks that eventually sent him down. Referee Joe Santarpia counted until seven, but after realizing González was in no condition to continue, stopped the fight with five seconds remaining in the round, giving Witherspoon the victory by technical knockout.
After the event, Witherspoon was critical of the performances of his fellow former heavyweight champions, Lewis and Holyfield, stating to the New York Times "If that's all they have to offer, then I'm the best out there."[5]
Lewis vs Mercer
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| Lewis wins via majority decision (96–94, 96–95, 95–95) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Though Lewis entered the fight as the clear-cut favorite, Mercer surprised both Lewis and the audience by putting on one of the best performances in his career. From the opening bell, the two men would go back and forth, with Mercer being able to win two of the first three rounds on the scorecards. The two men would have arguably their most entertaining showing in the fourth. Lewis was able to hit Mercer with two impressive combination within the round's first two minutes, but with 40 second left in the round, Mercer was able to put on his best offensive showing in the fight as he hammered Lewis with a 16-punch combination that briefly stunned Lewis. Lewis then responded with a combination of his own, but Mercer was able to fight out it with another combination. The two continued to exchange close rounds with neither man gaining a knockdown and, by the end of the fight, both fighter's eyes were almost completely shut. One judge had the fight scored a draw at 95–95, the other two judge's had Lewis narrowly winning the fight with scores of 96–95 and 96–94, giving Lewis the victory by majority decision. When the decision was announced by Michael Buffer, the pro-Mercer crowd loudly booed, having felt Mercer had done enough to win the fight. The unofficial Associated Press scorecard had Mercer clearly winning the fight by the score of 97–93, while HBO's unofficial ringside scorer Harold Lederman scored the bout a draw 95–95. Despite giving up three inches to Lewis, Mercer was able to land 60% percent of his jabs to Lewis' 33%. Mercer also landed a higher percentage of total punches, 59% to Lewis' 44%. Lewis, however, was able to narrowly land more total punches, having landed 235 punches to Mercer's 223.[9][10]
Holyfield vs Czyz
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| Holyfield defeated Czyz by 5th round corner retirement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the main event Holyfield controlled the bout with Czyz receiving a standing 8-count in the 3rd.[11]
Czyz quit on his stool after the 5th round complaining of a foreign substance in his eyes telling his corner "my eyes are burning and I can't see.". Dr. Rufus Sadler examined him and verified a vision problem. Czyz claimed someone in Holyfield's corner had put a substance on his gloves to cause burning. Referee Ron Lipton halted the bout, declaring Holyfield the winner by a technical knockout after the fifth round. He then went to Holyfield's corner, took the gloves and rubbed them on his face. Before telling Czyz that nothing had come off the gloves.
Aftermath
[edit]The Lewis-Bowe match never ended up taking place. In his tuneup fight against Andrew Golota, an out-of-shape former world champion performed poorly and only managed to win after Golota was disqualified for repeated shots below the belt.[12] Lewis’ camp pulled out of the fight afterward as their interest in taking on Bowe faded. Lewis did not fight again in 1996, but in his next fight he got the title match he had been clamoring for; after Tyson vacated the WBC title to pursue a fight with WBA champion Bruce Seldon, Lewis fought and defeated Oliver McCall in a controversial fight for the vacant title, avenging his previous loss to McCall.
Fight card
[edit]Confirmed bouts:[13]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | 200+ lbs. | Evander Holyfield | def. | Bobby Czyz | RTD | 5/10 |
| Heavyweight | 200+ lbs. | Lennox Lewis | def. | Ray Mercer | MD | 10 |
| Heavyweight | 200+ lbs. | Tim Witherspoon | def. | Jorge Luis González | TKO | 5/10 |
| Light Heavyweight | 175 lbs. | Montell Griffin | def. | Charles Scott | TKO | 4/10 |
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Vernon Forrest | def. | Chris Slaughter | TKO | 1/10 |
| Heavyweight | 200+ lbs. | Courage Tshabalala | def. | Tim Noble | SD | 8 |
| Heavyweight | 200+ lbs. | Gary Bell | def. | Patrick Freeman | UD | 6 |
| Heavyweight | 200+ lbs. | Michael Grant | def. | Olian Alexander | TKO | 4/4 |
Broadcasting
[edit]| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom |
Sky Sports |
 United States |
HBO |
References
[edit]- ^ Court Battle on Tyson Bout, N.Y. Times article, 1995-11-08, Retrieved on 2013-08-01
- ^ Ruling Favors Bruno-Tyson, N.Y. Times article, 1995-11-10, Retrieved on 2013-08-01
- ^ In Garden Ring, 6 Heavyweights in Search of Comebacks, N.Y. Times article, 1996-05-10, Retrieved on 2013-08-01
- ^ RECYCLED WITHERSPOON, MAN WITH THE SOFT TOUCH, N.Y. Daily News article, 1996-04-30, Retrieved on 2026-03-08
- ^ Garden Fights Leave Heavyweight Questions, N.Y. Times article, 1996-05-12, Retrieved on 2026-03-08
- ^ a b "World Boxing Council ratings as of April 1996". The Albany Herald. World Boxing Council. Associated Press. 9 May 1996. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ "World Boxing Association ratings as of January 1996". The Idaho Spokesman-Review. World Boxing Association. Associated Press. 28 April 1996. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ "International Boxing Federation official ratings as of March 1996". The Tuscaloosa News. International Boxing Federation. 22 March 1996. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
- ^ Holyfield Leads Veterans' Victory Parade, N.Y. Times article, 1996-05-11, Retrieved on 2013-08-01
- ^ Srikumar Sen (13 May 1996). "Lewis strengthens title hand with disputed decision". The Times. New York. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
- ^ "Evander Holyfield vs. Bobby Czyz". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ Eskenazi, Gerald (May 17, 1996). "Deal With Lewis Frees Tyson to Seek Title". New York Times. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
- ^ "BoxRec: Event".