Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson

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Lewis–Tyson: Is On
IBF, IBO, and The Ring
heavyweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer United Kingdom Lennox Lewis United States Mike Tyson
Nickname "The Lion" "Iron"
Hometown West Ham, London, UK Catskill, New York, U.S.
Purse $17,500,000 $17,500,000
Pre-fight record 39–2–1 (30 KO) 49–3 (2) (43 KO)
Age 36 years, 9 months 35 years, 11 months
Height 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 249+14 lb (113 kg) 234+12 lb (106 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition WBC, IBF, IBO, and The Ring
Heavyweight Champion
WBC
No. 1 ranked heavyweight
IBF
No 12 Ranked Heavyweight
Former undisputed heavyweight champion
Result
Lewis wins via 8th-round KO

Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson, billed as Lewis–Tyson: Is On, was a

IBF, IBO, and The Ring champion Lennox Lewis defeated former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson by knockout
in the eighth round. Prior to the event, Lewis was awarded The Ring magazine heavyweight title, which had been vacant since the late 1980s and was last held by Tyson.

Background

The fight was originally scheduled for April 6, 2002 in

Las Vegas. However, Nevada refused to grant Tyson a license after a press conference brawl between Lewis and Tyson (see below). Several other states refused Tyson a license before Memphis
finally bid US$12 million in order to host the fight.

The referee for the fight was Eddie Cotton, officiating his 20th world title bout. Alfred Buqwana of South Africa, Anek Hongtongkam of Thailand and Bob Logist of Belgium were appointed as judges, as both the WBC and the Tennessee Athletic Commission wanted judges from different continents.[1] Lewis weighed in at 249.25 lb (113 kg) and Tyson at 234 lb (106 kg) (the second highest of his career).

The fight was promoted by Main Events and was a

Mayweather vs. Álvarez
surpassed the gross revenue generated from pay-per-view buys.

However, the ticket sales were slow[3] because they were priced as high as US$2,400, but a crowd of 15,327 turned up to see the fight. Lewis entered the bout as 2/1 favorite.[4][5]

Among the celebrities in attendance were Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Clint Eastwood, Ben Affleck, Hugh Hefner, Halle Berry, Richard Gere, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Vince McMahon, The Undertaker, LL Cool J, Tyra Banks, Wesley Snipes, Donald Trump,[6] Kevin Bacon, Chris Webber, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Morgan Freeman, Alec Baldwin, and heavyweight boxer Evander Holyfield.[7]

Press conference brawl

On January 22, 2002, at a

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

Tyson went on stage at the Hudson Theatre and stared in the direction of where Lewis was to appear. As soon as Lewis appeared, Tyson quickly walked toward him and appeared to be about to assault Lewis. One of Lewis's bodyguards attempted to block Tyson's access to Lewis before Tyson threw a left hook in the bodyguard's direction.

The two boxers rolled on the floor with personnel from both camps getting involved.[8]

During the melee WBC president José Sulaimán claimed to be knocked out when he hit his head on the table. He later filed a US$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.[9]

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

Following the brawl Tyson came to the edge of the podium, grabbed his crotch and started shouting expletives at someone at the crowd who was later guessed to be either Lewis's mother or a female photographer.

The Ring magazine Event of the Year for 2002.[13]

The fight

Round one: The early moments of the fight provided arguably the most evenly fought display of back-and-forth action between Tyson and Lewis as they started by jabbing away. Just before 30 seconds had elapsed, Tyson leaned forward with a left-jab at Lewis; then lunged towards his midsection, landing a right-and-left combination of body blows before Lewis could manage to steer him backward with three effectively landed uppercuts of his own. As they subsequently traded body shots, Tyson ended the initial sequence by missing on a wild left hook. As the middle stages of the round came about, Lewis began to clinch and grab hold of Tyson as a strategy to fend off his repeated attempts to draw near for body attacks, keeping him at bay. But with just under a minute remaining in the round, Tyson connected with a left hook to Lewis' jaw, catching him off-guard. Lewis stumbled then recovered by once again clinching an approaching Tyson and pushing him back into the ropes while landing another jab. Mike Tyson came out on top of the inaugural round.

Round two: Both fighters began jabbing at one another, before Cotton warned Lewis twice for holding. Lewis landed a number of effective punches on Tyson as he tried to approach, including several powerful uppercuts that kept Tyson staggering backwards.

Round three: As the third round opened Lewis continued jabbing away. Later in the round Tyson went on to headbutt Lewis before connecting with a left hook, but Lewis managed to cut Tyson above his right eye later in the round.

Round four: Again Tyson rushed out in the round's beginning moments, but Lewis then landed two strong jabs before landing a big right. With 10 seconds left in the round Lewis landed a couple of punches on Tyson who went down. Referee Eddie Cotton ruled it a slip and deducted a point from Lewis for pushing Tyson down. Tyson's face had then started to swell.

Round five: Cotton stopped the fight and talked to Lewis again in the fifth round about pushing. As the round went on, a visibly weakened Tyson began throwing fewer and fewer punches while struggling to land on most of his attempts.

Round six: Lewis stayed in control by mostly connecting on jabs. With just over a minute left in the round, Tyson was able to land a couple of shots which had created swelling just below Lewis' left eye. But by the conclusion of the round Tyson had already sustained lacerations above both his eyes.

Round seven: In the seventh round, Lewis put Tyson off balance upon landing a crushing right hook. Lewis once more was overpowering in taking the round, with what was little resistance at that point; continuing on as he had shown without relent through most of the fight, landing 31 punches in comparison to only 4 landed for Tyson.

Round eight: with 47 seconds left to the bell, Tyson was hit with a heavy right cross from Lewis, knocking him to the canvas and down for the second time in the round. As Tyson lay on his back, he was counted out by the referee at the 2:25 mark, as he made no real effort to get back up and continue fighting. Lennox Lewis was declared the winner by KO.[14][15]

Aftermath

A month later, Lewis vacated the IBF title deciding not to fight Chris Byrd, who was the mandatory challenger.[16]

The fight was named The Ring magazine Knockout of the Year for year 2002.

Undercard

  • Jorge Eliecer Julio
    in the second for the IBF junior featherweight title.
  • Cuba Joel Casamayor KOs Mexico Juan Jose Arias in the eighth round.
  • United Kingdom David Starie KOs United States Roni Martinez in the first round.
  • United States Malik Scott defeats United States Dan Ward via unanimous decision.
  • United States Jeff Lacy KOs United States Kevin Hall in the third round.
  • Australia Nedal Hussein defeats Philippines Ronnie Longakit by unanimous decision.
  • United States Rico Hoye KOs United States George Klinesmith in the second round.
  • Canada Corinne Van Ryck DeGroot defeats United States Jo Wyman via unanimous decision.
  • United States Cornelius Bundrage defeats United States Anthony Bowman via unanimous decision.

Broadcasting

Country Broadcaster
 United Kingdom Sky Sports
 United States HBO / Showtime

References

  1. ^ "Cotton to officiate Lewis-Tyson". BBC Sport. 2002-05-27. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  2. ^ Umstead, R. Thomas (2007-05-14). "HBO Rings In A PPV Knockout". Variety Group. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  3. ^ "Big fight facing big turn-off". BBC Sport. 2002-06-03. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  4. ^ "Lewis, Tyson tip scales separately". CBC. June 6, 2002. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  5. ^ Gleason, Kevin (June 8, 2002). "Ex-handlers not sold on Lennox". Times Herald-Record. Archived from the original on 2021-02-03. Retrieved February 3, 2021.
  6. ^ "The Celebrity Apprentice episode 7 season1". NBC. 2008.
  7. ^ "Muddy marvellous in Memphis". BBC Sport. 2002-06-06. Retrieved 2008-06-21.
  8. ^ "Tyson-Lewis, finisce in rissa l'annuncio-stampa del match". repubblica.it (in Italian). January 22, 2002.
  9. ^ "Tyson brawl sparks $56m lawsuit". BBC Sport. 2002-08-03. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
  10. ^ Sandomir, Richard (2002-01-24). "Writer Lost His Head Seeing Tyson's Antics". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  11. ^ "White like me". Sports Illustrated. 2002-01-30. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  12. ^ "NEWS REPORT: Tyson-Lewis fight on press conference". CNN Sports. 2002-01-30. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
  13. ^ Antonio Monda (June 8, 2002). "Mike Tyson cerca una notte da re". repubblica.it.
  14. ^ "Round-by-round: Lewis v Tyson". BBC Sport. June 8, 2002. Retrieved April 25, 2007.
  15. ^ "Tyson finisce al tappeto Lewis resta campione". repubblica.it (in Italian). June 9, 2002.
  16. ^ "Lewis gives up IBF belt". BBC Sport. 2002-09-06. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
Preceded by Lennox Lewis' bouts
8 June 2002
Succeeded by
Preceded by Mike Tyson's bouts
8 June 2002
Succeeded by