A year earlier, Lennox Lewis had finally met Mike Tyson in the ring and achieved a landmark victory by knocking out Mike Tyson in the eighth round of their record-breaking fight. Following his victory, Lewis would take a year-long break from the ring, eventually vacating his IBF title after passing on the chance to face the IBF's number one contender Chris Byrd. Instead, Lewis turned his sights on a possible match with Vitali Klitschko, who had become the WBC's number one contender after defeating Larry Donald. In early 2003, negotiations for the fight fell through and Lewis began looking into a lucrative rematch with Tyson. Tyson passed on the rematch, forcing Lewis to accept a less marketable fight against Kirk Johnson with only Lewis IBO title would be on the line. Before the Lewis–Johnson fight could take place, Johnson was forced to pull out with a chest injury. As such, Lewis and Klitschko agreed to face one another on June 21, rather than later in the year as originally planned.
