That Time Lennox Lewis Knocked Out Mike Tyson In The 8th Round!

Both fighters were guaranteed $17.5 million. The contracts addressed the possibility of the fight ending with a flagrant foul. The fighter committing such an infraction would forfeit $3 million of his purse to the other man. Tyson also was forced to agree to pay Lewis $335,000 for biting his leg during the brawl at the press conference announcing the fight. Payment was due June 9. Lewis was under contract with HBO and Tyson was with Showtime. For that reason, many thought the fight wouldn’t take place. Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports, said the fight would be on HBO or it wouldn’t happen, and Showtime senior vice president Jay Larkin said Tyson would fight on HBO “when pork chops grow on the palm trees of Tel Aviv.” However, the two networks eventually agreed to work together. The pay-per-view commentators were HBO’s Jim Lampley and Showtime’s Bobby Czyz. Each network also had a team call the fight for a potential delayed broadcast. If Lewis won, HBO would televise the replay and pay Showtime $3 million. If Tyson won, Showtime would air the replay and pay HBO. Lewis vs. Tyson was the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history, generating $106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the USA. It was surpassed by Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007. It remains, however, the highest-grossing heavyweight pay-per-view event in boxing history. The brawl at the press conference was named the 2002 Event of the Year by The Ring. Lewis' knockout of Tyson was named the 2002 Knockout of the Year by The Ring. Posted By Ghost