WHEN London-born Michael Bentt travelled to Tulsa, Oklahoma to challenge big-punching Tommy Morrison for his WBO heavyweight title on 29 October 1993, nothing was expected of him. Although a fine amateur who had narrowly missed a place on the American Olympic team in 1988, Bentt had made little progress as a professional. It was expected to be a routine win for Morrison, who was making his second defence of the championship he had won by outboxing George Foreman over 12 rounds in Las Vegas four months earlier.

Boxing, though, is not always so straightforward. Its history is littered with examples of challengers with nothing to lose upsetting champions with nothing to gain. That night, Bentt joined them. Under heavy fire, he rebounded to bomb out Morrison in 93 seconds and send the least credible portion of the world heavyweight title lurching in another unexpected direction.

Bentt’s victory had immediate implications for Lennox Lewis. The Briton had been expected to meet Morrison, touted as the next great white hope and with claimed ancestral links to the actor John Wayne, in a big-money match in the spring of 1994. Now he would have to look elsewhere. Not for the first time, Lewis’s name was linked with that of Evander Holyfield, who eight days after Lewis’s victory over Bruno regained the WBA and IBF versions of the world title by outpointing Riddick Bowe in Las Vegas.

Despite this, it was announced in January that Lewis was likely to make the third defence of his WBC crown against little-known American Phil Jackson in the first week of May. The following month, there was another development when the Lewis camp revealed they had also started negotiations for a title defence in the Philippines, where a proposed bout – although not against Jackson – had the backing of the country’s president.

All this speculation was dismissed when Don King began pressing for his fighter, number one contender Oliver McCall, to be the next challenger for Lewis’s title. According to WBC rules, all of their world champions must make a mandatory defence at least once a year. King insisted that because Lewis had not actually won his championship in the ring, his bout with Tony Tucker was not a mandatory defence.

The WBC sided with King but it was agreed that Lewis would first make a voluntary defence against Jackson, of Miami, Florida, in Atlantic City on 6 May. If he won, he would make a mandatory defence against McCall immediately afterwards.

Jackson’s 30-1 record was impressive on paper but the quality of his opposition did not stand up to close inspection. His only defeat had come against Donovan ‘Razor’ Ruddock but its manner raised questions about Jackson’s character and readiness for a world title challenge. Jackson had been counted out on one knee in the fourth round but his body language suggested he could have continued had he wanted to. Despite the apparent capitulation, Jackson was ranked number five by the WBC and known to be a strong fighter with exceptionally fast hands, although significantly smaller than Lewis.

‘Anyone can choke on a given night,’ Jackson told the Baltimore Sun in reference to the fight that cast serious doubt on whether he could last with Lewis. ‘I didn’t train properly for Ruddock and had no defense. There was no sense taking a real beating. I knew I’d have another day.’

Jackson’s trainer Pat Burns said: ‘Put a lot of fighters in that same situation, and they become bums or an opponent. But Phil came back from that fight with a whole new attitude. He busted his butt, and he’s won his last five fights. He’s done more growing up this past year than he did in his first six years as a pro.

‘We’ve prepared Phil as much mentally as physically. We’ve got him concentrating on attacking Lewis’s body. He’s a lot more prepared than when he fought Ruddock. It’s strictly how bad he wants to be a champion.’

It wasn’t badly enough. Lewis, a 16-1 favourite, completely dominated the fight, landing four times as many punches as Jackson and knocking him down three times on the way to an eighth-round stoppage.

The size difference between the fighters, not to mention the huge gulf in class, played a big part in the outcome. Afterwards, Lewis told the Associated Press: ‘I don’t mind fighting shorter opponents, because they’re going to find it hard to hit me because they have to reach up to hit me. With my reach advantage, it gives them a difficult time.’

Jackson, four inches shorter, sounded as if he was looking for excuses when he said: ‘It looks easy on the tape, but when you’re standing there looking up at a giant, it’s different.’

Lewis’s lack of popularity in the US was reflected in the official crowd of 5,534 – only a quarter of the arena’s capacity – but he still earned a very respectable $4m compared to Jackson’s $500,000. With a well-executed third defence of his title safely completed, Lewis was now ready for McCall.

Or was he?