But the outcome yesterday was far from undisputed, with Holyfield the more active fighter and taking the fight to his larger foe from the start, possibly setting the stage for a third meeting of the two next year.

In the rematch of a controversial draw from last March, judge Chuck Giampa scored it 116-112 while Bill Graham had it 117-111 and Jerry Roth 115-113 for Lewis. All three judges were from Nevada.

Lewis rose to 35-1 and became the first undisputed heavyweight World champion from Britain since Bob Fitz Simmons a century ago. Holyfield fell to 36-4.

Lewis left the United States without at least a share of the heavyweight crown for the first time since Sweden's Ingemar Johansson took the title 40 years ago.

The championship was unified for the first time in seven years with Lewis capturing Holyfield's World BoxingAssociation and International Boxing Federation titles and keeping his World Boxing Council crown.

Lewis won his 11th fight in a row since suffering his only defeat to Oliver McCall in a 1994 WBC title fight. Lewis and Holyfield each received $ 15 million for the fight.