It has been confirmed that Lennox Lewis now holds all four of his world heavyweight belts after a settlement was reached with the International Boxing Federation. The IBF had given Lewis a Friday deadline to pay the $300,000 sanction fee to keep their version of the world heavyweight title. This followed the IBF withdrawing their belt from the Lewis-Evander Holyfield fight in Las Vegas on Saturday because they said the British boxer's camp refused to pay the sanction fee.
Lewis' lawyers had intended fighting the case if Lewis did lose the title he had won at the Thomas and Mack Center before a crowd of 17,916. However, Lewis' manager has confirmed the settlement with the IBF. “They have now sanctioned the fight and Lennox is now the IBF heavyweight champion as well as the WBA, the WBC and the IBA. I am pleased that this has been sorted out. It is good for boxing and it is great that politics has not overshadowed Lennox's achievement. Lennox will be over the moon.”
The controversy stemmed from Lewis promoter Panos Eliades' reluctance to pay the $300,000 for the IBF to sanction the fight because he feared the money might be lost if the governing body was disbanded by the FBI.
