Lennox Lewis vs. Henry Akinwande was a professional boxing match contested on July 12, 1997, for the WBC Heavyweight Championship.
[2] For his first defense of his second reign as champion, Lewis was matched up against fellow British fighter Henry Akinwande, who was undefeated in his professional career.
For Lane it was his second consecutive heavyweight championship fight that ended in disqualification, as less than 3 weeks prior, he was forced to disqualify Mike Tyson after he twice bit Evander Holyfield on the ears during the very famous Holyfield–Tyson II match.
[7] Ultimately, the commission decided that he had been punished enough by his DQ loss and allowed Akinwande to keep the full amount of his purse.
[8] Akinwande then closed 1997 with a defeat of Orlin Norris and landed a WBA title shot against Holyfield the following year.