Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson

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Records before June 8, 2002
Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson
Lennox Lewis
Nickname	The Lion
Record	39-2-1 (30 KO)
Hometown	London, England
Recognition	WBC/IBO/IBF Heavyweight Champion
versus
Mike Tyson
Nickname	Iron Mike
Record	49-3 (43 KO)
Hometown	Phoenix, Arizona
Title(s) on the line
WBC/IBO/IBF Heavyweight Champion

Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson is a boxing match that took place on June 8, 2002, at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee, between WBC, IBO and IBF heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and former WBC, WBO and IBF heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. The fight was for Lewis' Heavyweight championship titles. Lewis defeated Tyson by knockout in the eighth round.

1 General information
2 Press conference brawl
3 The Fight
4 Aftermath
5 References
6 External links

[edit] General information

The referee for the fight was Eddie Cotton, making it his 20th World title bout. Alfred Buqwana of South Africa, Anek Hongtongkam of Thailand and Bob Logist of Belgium judged the contest, both the WBC and the Tennessee Athletic Commission wanted judges from different continents.^[1] Lewis weighed in at 249.25lb and Tyson at 234lb.

The fight was a pay-per-view shown on HBO in the United States and on SkySports Box Office in the United Kingdom. It was the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history, generating $106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the USA, until it was surpassed by De La Hoya vs. Mayweather in 2007.^[2]

However, the ticket sales were slow^[3] because they were priced as high as $2,400, but a crowd of 15,327 turned up to see the biggest sporting event ever in the city of Memphis, Tennessee.

The was originally scheduled for April 6, 2002 in Las Vegas. However, Las Vegas rejected the fight and several other states refused Tyson a license before Memphis finally bid $12 million in order to host the fight.

In attendance were such stars as Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Clint Eastwood, Ben Affleck, Hugh Hefner, Halle Berry, Richard Gere, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, and fellow heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield.

[edit] Press conference brawl

Official fight poster

On January 22, 2002, a brawl involving the two boxers and their entourages occurred at a press conference held in New York to publicise the bout.

Tyson went on stage at the Hudson Theatre and stared in the direction of when Lewis was to appear. As soon as Lewis appeared, Tyson quickly walked toward him. One of Lewis’ bodyguards pushed Tyson, before he threw a left hook in the bodyguard’s direction.

The two boxers rolled on the floor with personnel from both camps getting involved.

During the melee WBC president Jose Sulaiman was knocked out when he hit his head on the table. He later filed a $56 million lawsuit against Lewis and Tyson for injuries caused in the scuffle. Sulaiman claims he was spat on and Tyson threatened to kill him, when he got up after being knocked out.^[4]

Lewis’ promoter, Gary Shaw claimed he was hit several times during the brawl as well.

Tyson later admitted to biting Lewis' leg and had to pay him $335,000.

The brawl at the press conference for this fight was named The Ring magazine Event of the Year for 2002.

[edit] The Fight

Tyson and Lewis came out jabbing away. Lewis managed to land two right uppercuts before Tyson missed with a wild left hook. With just under a minute left in the first round, Tyson landed a great left hook. Lewis then holds Tyson pushing him into the ropes and lands another jab.

During the second round, Cotton warns Lewis twice, firstly for throwing an elbow at Tyson and then for holding. Lewis landed a number of punches on Tyson, including three powerful uppercuts.

As the third round opens Tyson headbutted Lewis, however, Lewis manages to cut Tyson on his right later in the round.

Again Tyson rushes out in the fourth round and Lewis lands two jabs before landing a big right. With 10 seconds left in the round Lewis lands a couple of punches on Tyson who goes down. Referee, Cotton rules it a slip and deducts a point from Lewis for pushing Tyson down. Tyson’s face has started to swell.

Cotton stopped the fight and talks to Lewis again in the fifth round about pushing. Tyson struggled to land a punch on the champion.

Tyson had cuts above both eyes, and late in the seventh round Lewis puts Tyson off balance landing a heavy right hook. Lewis dominated the round, landing 31 punches compared to Tyson’s four.

In the eighth and final round, Tyson is knocked down after a lethal uppercut from Lewis. Lewis pushes Tyson down, but does him a favor. Tyson lies on his back on the canvas, he is counted out by the referee as he tries to get up.^[5]^[6]