Mike Tyson Vs Lennox Lewis - Official Boxing Event Program (2002)

Official Boxing Event Program

"Iron" Mike Tyson Vs Lennox Lewis

28th June 2002

In great condition - See photos

Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson, billed as Lewis–Tyson: Is On, was a heavyweight professional boxing match that took place on June 8, 2002, at the Pyramid Arena in Memphis, Tennessee.

The defending unified WBC, 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.

Following his 1997 disqualification loss to Evander Holyfield in the rematch of their first bout, Tyson had been fined and had his license revoked by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for having twice-bitten Holyfield during the fight. Tyson made his initial return to boxing in 1999 before being sentenced to a second prison term later that year.

Following several more bouts after his release, Tyson signed to face former WBO title-holder Ray Mercer in January 2001. However, Lewis and his camp feared a future fight with Tyson could be jeopardized should the former champion lose and thus filed a legal injunction to prevent the match with Mercer from happening and forcing Tyson to cancel the bout and instead face the reigning WBC/IBF champion.

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.
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. 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 pay-per-view shown as a joint collaboration between HBO and Showtime in the United States and on Sky Box Office in the United Kingdom. The joint promotion was a rarity as at the time HBO and Showtime were arch-rivals in American boxing broadcasting, though it would later be repeated in 2015 with the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao match. Lewis had HBO's Michael Buffer introduce him, while Jimmy Lennon Jr. of Showtime did the same for Tyson. It was the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history, generating US$106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the U.S., until it was surpassed by De La Hoya vs. Mayweather in 2007. In 2013, Mayweather vs. Álvarez surpassed the gross revenue generated from pay-per-view buys.

However, the ticket sales were slow 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 favourite.

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, Kevin Bacon, Chris Webber, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Morgan Freeman, Alec Baldwin, and former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.

On January 22, 2002, at a press conference held in New York to publicize 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.

During the fracas, 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. Tyson was accused of- and later admitted to having bitten Lewis' leg amidst the melee, resulting in the champion being required to receive a tetanus shot.

Following the brawl Tyson came to the edge of the podium, grabbed his crotch and started shouting expletives at someone in the crowd who was later guessed to be either Lewis's mother or a female photographer. Then he overheard freelance journalist Mark Malinowski suggesting that he should be in a straitjacket, which prompted him to issue another profanity-laden tirade, this time directed at Malinowski. He repeatedly referred to the reporter as a "punk white boy" and a "faggot", and punctuated his oration by vowing to "fuck [Malinowski] 'till you love me". The brawl at the press conference for this fight was named The Ring magazine Event of the Year for 2002

A month later, Lewis vacated the IBF title when he declined to face Chris Byrd, the mandatory challenger, instead signing to fight former title-challenger Kirk Johnson. Following an injury to Johnson during training camp, Lewis and Vitaly Klitschko would agree to face each other on short notice in 2003. The fight with Tyson would be Lewis' last as a unified champion and he retired in 2004 with just one major title, the WBC belt, remaining in his possession.

The Lewis-Tyson bout was named The Ring magazine Knockout of the Year for 2002.

Undercard:
     Philippines Manny Pacquiao KOs Colombia Jorge Eliecer Julio in the second round 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.