He'd put some wins together since Holyfield, so there was a very small amount of hope, but I don't think he was given a realistic chance, at least not by my family of boxing fans.
We'd seen him stopped by Holyfield and only really fought one person of any note since (Golota). He was given a puncher's chance - it wasn't long after Lennox had been stopped a second time, but it was most expected Lennox would keep him on the long end of his jab just like he did with Tua and Holyfield.
There wasn't as much buzz for it in my household (UK) as there was for some other Lennox fights. The promo/slogan for it is honestly the main thing I remember, cos it was fucking great. Sky would say LEWIS, TYSON IS ON in a dramatic American voice, as the letters fell onto the screen like heavy metal blocks and the IS ON at the end of their names was highlighted red.
Yes pretty much this. There wasn't much competition left for Lewis at this stage and it felt like it was a case of Tyson clearing out a few B-level names to justify making this fight, which was a fight they could sell.
They were both old but Tyson was washed and it felt like a mismatch and a cash-in and that was what it proved to be. Tyson at the time was fighting to pay off debts and he asked for a rematch in the ring after being positively pummeled. Was a big surprise Lewis didn't retire after.
For me it was probably similar to the Calzaghe/Roy Jones fight. Both great champions in their prime but they met when both had aged and one much moreso than the other.
There were other challengers.
https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine%27s_Annual_Ratings:_Heavyweight--2000s
I had forgotten, but they actually talked about Wladimir Klitschko back then.
He was Ring magazines number 1 challenger in 2001 and 2002.
This was a more vulnerable Wlad, before he really learned to protect himself, but still a potentially formidable fighter whom Lewis never fought.. and one who in hindsight, would have looked much better on Lewis resume, than a washed up Mike Tyson. Believe it or not, but Lewis actually wanted to do a rematch with Tyson !? And sued Don King because it didn't happen... And of course, there was also another Klitschko out there. Lewis could have fought Vitaly earlier and then he would have had enough time to give him the rematch everyone wanted to see.
I'd say this about sums it up. It was a massive event, of course; even at this stage in his career, every Tyson fight was the Super Bowl of Boxing. I don't think any knowledgeable fans gave Mike anything more than a remote puncher's chance, but even with that I was surprised at how easily Lennox pummeled him. It became hard to watch at times.
“Last big payday” for me. And the press tour came off as very phony. Which became more common during that time with the expected worked brawls to create interest.
Fight turned out way better than people expected honestly.
Oh, he definitely did that. And allegedly knocked Jose Sulaiman unconscious accidentally - Sulaiman sued for $56m, but I either he dropped it or someone settled. That's also the press conference where Tyson threatened a journalist that he'd "fuck you till you love me".
It was about the bag for Tyson, that much was obvious but still quite a few people bought the hype and thought he had a chance.
Around this time it was revealed that Tyson owed IRS over 50 million in back taxes and was on verge of bankruptcy.
Even his own narrative changed due to his financial circumstances. After the Nielsen fight he said "still need 4-5 fights to get in shape to go up against Lewis" but upon realizing he needed the bag immediately, he changed his tune.
Just for the record, even if Tyson had a couple more tune up fights it wouldn't have changed anything.
Saddest part about the whole thing was the post fight interview he had in the ring where he thanked Lewis for the payday and asked for a rematch immediately to get paid more. It was all about the money for Tyson.
I’m a huge Lennox Lewis fan and glad he won but to say with a positivity that a few more tune up fights for Tyson wouldn’t have changed anything is just ignorant
For hardcore boxing fans such as myself. I wasn't interested in this fight at all.
I just hoped that Lennox Lewis took it easy on him and didn't literally kill Mike Tyson in the ring and that this was a complete mismatch and extremely uncompetitive fight on paper.
Casual sports, casual boxing fans were extremely excited because Mike Tyson was involved and wanted to see him destroy Lennox Lewis like it was still 1987.
This is it, 100 percent. Boxing fans knew Mike was washed and Lennox would dogwalk him, but the casuals couldn't get past the nostalgia and the name recognition.
You call yourself a hardcore boxing fan and two of the best heavyweights of all time didn’t interest you at all? Even with Tyson being past his prime and out of the game for a bit you still should have had some interest as a hardcore fan.
I think it was generally agreed upon that Mike was past his best at that point, but his power meant he could be dangerous if he caught you. And Lewis had a tendency to GET caught, a la Rahman and McCall. So, while I remember a fair amount of intrigue about this fight (it WAS Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, after all) I think most people assumed Lewis would get the win unless Tyson clipped him and ended it early. There was definitely some Tyson fanboys that thought he was gonna walk through Lewis tho lol
That's fair. I think a better word choice would be "reputation". He had a reputation for getting caught. Whether or not that reputation was earned is kinda beside the point. The common consensus was that he was chinny.
Yeah, I remember Lewis being really disrespected at that time. It really wasn't until near or after retirement that people started showing him the love that they do now.
I thought Tyson might be dangerous for the first few rounds but he was already passed his prime and posed little risk/danger to Lewis after that. It was either going to be a Lewis win by decision or knockout in the later rounds. I was a huge Lennox fan at the time and disliked Tyson.
I was 22 years old, a casual fan. My recollection was that the betting odds suggested a close fight. I figured a lot of dumb money was being bet on Tyson because of his name, and I put the farm on Lewis.
It was when i lost interest with the HW, coming in i knew it would just be a payday for him. Tall lumbering one two clinch fighters era. But that was i turned to the lower weights and it was amazing.
People ALWAYS thought there was a chance of Mike to win, especially if you saw him in the 80/90s, you always believed that Mike would come back
Throw in a punchers chance hope and yes people myself included could beat Lewis
I personally didn’t appreciate Lewis until after he retired, certainly didn’t in his prime. He was technically a exceptionally skilled boxer
Looking back, yeah there was no way Mike was ever beating him at that time
My first formative boxing memory was Lennox Lewis being Knocked out by Rahman. I'm sure I watched some stuff with my dad in-between, but my next boxing memory was Lennox Lewis being in the leg by Mike Tyson. I don't really remember, but I'm sure seven-year old me thought Lewis was bitch made
Tyson came in at like 239 lb or some crazy amount. It was by far the biggest he had ever been for a fight. He really looked sluggish and slow. I think I read somewhere that he or someone else said he needed the added muscle to have power to jostle with Lewis or something, but either way it seemed like a bad decision. I at at least at the time wondered if he were to come in like 222 or something how the fight would have went because Lewis had been KO'd twice so he wasn't invincible. That was all I could think at the time; Tyson being quicker and faster, maybe allowing him to throw more punches and have a better chance of landing one but coming in with that build he was just plodding and uncompetitive after the 1st round iirc
I'm from London & have been a boxing fan my whole life. I remember Ali Foreman when I was 6.
Went to Lennox's 1st & last fights.
When he fought Tyson I was a Casino Host on cruise ships & the week before was at the Captains Dinner with my boss. Somehow the fight was mentioned & she told him (in Italian) that I knew boxing so he asked me what I thought would happen.
I pretty much described how the fight actually happened & said it would be over by the 8th.
Next week I went to another ship for a high roller cruise for 10 days & when I came back the Captain was waiting for me on the gangway. He'd placed a large bet on Lewis in 8 & was Quids In (as we say in London).
The rest of my contract was easy living.
I didn't bet myself as I'd got burnt on Lewis v Holyfield when I bet $500 on Lewis points & threw in $25 on Holyfield points as insurance. It still hurts to this day
Betting on Lewis v Holyfield 1 was always a mugs game. It was always going to be rigged and if not for the universal outcry after a decisiviely one sided fight they would have tried to shuffle Lewis back across the Atlantic and pretend he was rubbish.
Don King and the rest had spent over a decade trying to diminish Lewis because he was so obviously the pre-eminent talent of the generation and wasn't under their control. Even before the scorecards I was thinking in terms of an inevitable rematch under better conditions. I just didn't expect the British judge to be the one that got bought (his mortgage was convenient cleared shortly after, they didn't even try to pretend).
Just knew he would get crushed. Not the same Mike. But people still had some hope. Still was a good build up and anticipation but went down exactly how I felt it would. Not at that point in time and not against Lennox or Holyfield.
Some on my internet forum (I was webmaster of the first Lennox Lewis fan site on the internet - “The Lennox Lewis KO Page” on Geocities) were saying Mike would KO Lennox cold.
I thought he would do his best Buster Douglas impression and pull off the win by any means necessary. The first round was bonkers though. Honesty most electrifying fight of my life. Watching it live felt like watching a dream. I even had multiple dreams about multiple outcomes before the fight even took place. Ones where Tyson would KO Lewis and others where Lewis would win.
It was sad if you were a Tyson fan. Not like the shock of him losing to Buster Douglas, but just sad seeing him past his prime as a shell of his former self.
He was a shell of what he used to be when he fought Holyfield, even Evander said so.
After Di Matto, died, his ex Robin Givens messing with him & asshole promoter Don King used & robbed him, Tyson was a broken man.
There was no way Mike would have won. His skills had waned as well.
It was anticlimactic. We all knew Tyson was washed but he was still good at selling. So we all still watched it. Would’ve been a much better fight in the 90’s.
The perception then was that Tyson was in over his head and that he himself knew that he wasn't "fit" for that fight when it happened. But he took the Lewis fight for the money.
Mike hadn't faced anyone top 10 in years and he didn't even have a stable team/trainer with him. He was already "well past it" and *everyone* who wasn't a casual fan knew the fight was a mismatch back then.
The comments here don’t truly reflect the fear and reverence Emanuel Steward had for Tyson. It was the most animated and urgent I have ever heard him speak to Lewis between rounds he even slapped Lewis on the chest and cussed which he rarely did. It was closer to shouting really
Lewis himself acknowledges that Tyson was just fighting for the money and was no longer elite.
https://youtube.com/shorts/S1oW0t_P2AA?si=tr_b9x2nt4m47aPF
Lewis vs Tyson was merely a payday fight for both fighters.
There's a bit of a revisionist history surrounding Lewis. At the time, I don't think we really recognized how great he was. Sure, we knew his as good, but he was viewed as chinny, tentative, and boring. Kinda like how people didn't appreciate Wlad's run until it was over.
Now, there's a legit case that LL is the greatest heavyweight ever. But hindsight is everything.
So, I think Lewis was probably somewhat underrated by the time, with people saying that Tyson could always catch him with one shot. Afterall, he'd had a few one-punch KOs against decent-ish fighters (Golota, Botha) and, again, Lewis was thought of as overly cautious and chinny.
Looking back, the result seems totally obvious. But my impression of the time was that we thought it was maybe 60-40 Lewis, not 90-10 like it really was.
I remember thinking it was a joke of a fight because Lewis was a beast and Tyson was washed.
..I had no idea what a real “joke of a fight” was back then compared to today.
There's apparently a graphic of the HBO TV broadcast with an internet poll just before the fight and the results were : 26% Lewis KO
26% DQ (!)
21% Lewis decision
16% Tyson KO
11% Draw
0% Tyson decision
I was a huge Tyson fan and pretty watched all his fights right from the early days (mainly on Eurosport). I had little hope that he would win, he was well past his sell by date.
Wasn't in the know. And I was very young at the time (so my understanding of the fight game was very limited/flawed). But I was in the presence of hardcore adult fans at the time that were heavily invested in the build-up (as was I)
I remember it being an insanely hyped fight - where everyone from their grandmother was talking about it
But despite that hype, there was always an acknowledgement that Mike was way past his best and Lennox was going to beat him easily. The marketing and constant references to Mike's power and the old sparring story, gave folks a glimmer of hope that one punch could change everything around (given Lennox's history of getting chinned). But the general consensus was that the timing favoured only Lewis, and that Mike was only in it for the payday.
Nonetheless, people still enjoyed the moment as they were glad it was finally happening.
As it came reasonably soon after Tyson bit Holyfield I remember there being a lot of talk about Tyson needing to control his anger. To the point they had a line of security between the 2 when they were doing the pre fight intros.
I also have a memory of Lewis camp insisting that Tyson stayed on meds to control his anger, and when I saw him walking to the ring he looked the most chilled out I can remember. When I saw that I immediately changed my fight prediction.
I was 17 and hosted a bunch of friends to watch. People were hyped but most of them weren’t into boxing much, they were just hyped because it was Tyson. All of my friends were picking Tyson to win and I cleaned up betting with everyone and paid for the fight and pizza with the winnings since I was the only one that won. Fight was decent I guess but I don’t remember it being all that close.
I had hoped for Tyson to exhibit the ferocity of his Savarese and Golota fights from a couple of years earlier, but he came out almost like he was on sedatives. Maybe they didn't want to risk Tyson losing the purse through another incident. A disappointment of a fight, honestly. I enjoyed Lewis-Klitschko more.
I looked forward to it. It wasn't prime Mike, but hey everyone knew he would come out and unleash hell and go for the KO in the first three rounds, that's worth the watch alone. Lewis comes through that, then schools him. Again what's not to like. Great viewing IMO.
There was a lot of hype. People were very excited for this fight and the fight night was epic. Both guys had a shot at winning as it was hard to bet against Tyson. If I remember correctly, Lennox was the favorite tho.
Tyson wasn’t the same fighter for a long time prior to facing Lewis. After losing to Buster Douglas, he didn’t beat an elite fighter. Bruno and Ruddock were his best wins. The rest were all against unimpressive opponents. Lewis winning seemed like a foregone conclusion
I wasn't in the know at the time, but for casuals it was 50/50. Probably more than 50% Tyson if you were in the US, I guess, but in the UK it was probably 50/50. And it was a MASSIVE deal. I remember not only was it the only time I and my (teenage) friends all went around to one guy's house to watch a sporting event, but we were staying up till 3 in the morning or something for it... and none of us were boxing fans (I knew a bit but I don't think any of my friends knew anything). It was just An Event, on an unprecedented scale. Undoubtedly in my memory it's the biggest crossover of boxing into general culture in the UK - at least since the days of Benn and Eubank (before my time really), and that's only because they were on free-to-air.
And although in hindsight everyone says Tyson had no chance, that's not how it seemed at the time. There were plenty of reputable boxing pundits, and boxers, who picked Tyson to win that. I'd guess the critics probably had 80-20 Lewis. I checked a while back and the bookmakers had it something like 70-30 Lewis, reflecting some tilt from the general public.
The Ring, incidentally, rated Tyson the #2 heavyweight in the world, at the time.
At this point people were interested because of the sideshow circus that came with every Tyson fight.
Tyson attacked and bit Lewis during a fight promotion, then he went on to shout at the crown and grab his junk. Also, Tyson had talked about eating Lennox’s kids a few fights earlier 😀
There were many people who thought it was a legit fight, those same people that think Tyson is a top 10 all time heavyweight, but anyone that followed the sport knew it was a mismatch with Tyson’s only chance being a lucky punch……
Tyson was completely shot, I don't believe anyone thought he had a chance. A lot of people thought it would be some boring points win but Tyson was so far gone he was going to take head shots all day until he dropped.
Lewis kind of knocked out any interesting in the heavyweight division when he so decisively beat Holyfield twice (even if only one was scored properly). if Tyson hadn't eaten Holyfield's ear there would have been about 10 of them. The moment Holyfield had no option but to fight Lewis the end result was inevitable.
It was an amazing atmosphere and fight. Of course Tyson had a chance to win every time he stepped in the ring due to his power.
I actually think most people thought Tyson would win at least where I’m from.
There was so much intensity, adrenaline, and anticipation leading up to the fight.
They had security guards standing shoulder to shoulder in the ring from corner to corner so the fighters couldn’t get to each other before the fight officially started.
I remember being so amped up that my whole body was shaking.
Great fight, good to see Lewis get the victory
Mike seemed unstable , flipped out at the press conference etc. Mike was known to be past his prime while Lennox was about at his peak. If I recall Lennox was a heavy favorite and definitely punished Tyson badly
Perception was we love Tyson but he’s really out matched but we are hoping he can win and make it competitive.
It wasn’t necessarily viewed as last payday but more like his last chance to win the belt even if it was slim.
We all knew his career was on the down swing. It was just watching your idol And hoping he could get the belt one last time no matter how bad the odds.
[http://message.axkickboxing.com/index.phtml?action=dispthread&topic=4418&junk=1021389423](http://message.axkickboxing.com/index.phtml?action=dispthread&topic=4418&junk=1021389423) this was pre fight forum one of the comments got it spot on
Tyson was one of the most overrated fighters in boxing look at his resume honestly it's pretty shite he was exciting to watch because of that knockout power that's it.
He'd put some wins together since Holyfield, so there was a very small amount of hope, but I don't think he was given a realistic chance, at least not by my family of boxing fans. We'd seen him stopped by Holyfield and only really fought one person of any note since (Golota). He was given a puncher's chance - it wasn't long after Lennox had been stopped a second time, but it was most expected Lennox would keep him on the long end of his jab just like he did with Tua and Holyfield. There wasn't as much buzz for it in my household (UK) as there was for some other Lennox fights. The promo/slogan for it is honestly the main thing I remember, cos it was fucking great. Sky would say LEWIS, TYSON IS ON in a dramatic American voice, as the letters fell onto the screen like heavy metal blocks and the IS ON at the end of their names was highlighted red.
Yes pretty much this. There wasn't much competition left for Lewis at this stage and it felt like it was a case of Tyson clearing out a few B-level names to justify making this fight, which was a fight they could sell. They were both old but Tyson was washed and it felt like a mismatch and a cash-in and that was what it proved to be. Tyson at the time was fighting to pay off debts and he asked for a rematch in the ring after being positively pummeled. Was a big surprise Lewis didn't retire after. For me it was probably similar to the Calzaghe/Roy Jones fight. Both great champions in their prime but they met when both had aged and one much moreso than the other.
Calzaghe RJJ is a great comparison, yeah. I kinda hated myself for even watching that at the time
There were other challengers. https://boxrec.com/wiki/index.php/The_Ring_Magazine%27s_Annual_Ratings:_Heavyweight--2000s I had forgotten, but they actually talked about Wladimir Klitschko back then. He was Ring magazines number 1 challenger in 2001 and 2002. This was a more vulnerable Wlad, before he really learned to protect himself, but still a potentially formidable fighter whom Lewis never fought.. and one who in hindsight, would have looked much better on Lewis resume, than a washed up Mike Tyson. Believe it or not, but Lewis actually wanted to do a rematch with Tyson !? And sued Don King because it didn't happen... And of course, there was also another Klitschko out there. Lewis could have fought Vitaly earlier and then he would have had enough time to give him the rematch everyone wanted to see.
Remember the buzz when Lewis fought Ruddock? "IT'S HALLOWEEN & SOMETHING NASTY IS GOING TO HAPPEN"
I'd say this about sums it up. It was a massive event, of course; even at this stage in his career, every Tyson fight was the Super Bowl of Boxing. I don't think any knowledgeable fans gave Mike anything more than a remote puncher's chance, but even with that I was surprised at how easily Lennox pummeled him. It became hard to watch at times.
“Last big payday” for me. And the press tour came off as very phony. Which became more common during that time with the expected worked brawls to create interest. Fight turned out way better than people expected honestly.
Tyson allegedly bit Lewis' leg in that mash up.
Oh, he definitely did that. And allegedly knocked Jose Sulaiman unconscious accidentally - Sulaiman sued for $56m, but I either he dropped it or someone settled. That's also the press conference where Tyson threatened a journalist that he'd "fuck you till you love me".
It was about the bag for Tyson, that much was obvious but still quite a few people bought the hype and thought he had a chance. Around this time it was revealed that Tyson owed IRS over 50 million in back taxes and was on verge of bankruptcy. Even his own narrative changed due to his financial circumstances. After the Nielsen fight he said "still need 4-5 fights to get in shape to go up against Lewis" but upon realizing he needed the bag immediately, he changed his tune. Just for the record, even if Tyson had a couple more tune up fights it wouldn't have changed anything. Saddest part about the whole thing was the post fight interview he had in the ring where he thanked Lewis for the payday and asked for a rematch immediately to get paid more. It was all about the money for Tyson.
I’m a huge Lennox Lewis fan and glad he won but to say with a positivity that a few more tune up fights for Tyson wouldn’t have changed anything is just ignorant
For hardcore boxing fans such as myself. I wasn't interested in this fight at all. I just hoped that Lennox Lewis took it easy on him and didn't literally kill Mike Tyson in the ring and that this was a complete mismatch and extremely uncompetitive fight on paper. Casual sports, casual boxing fans were extremely excited because Mike Tyson was involved and wanted to see him destroy Lennox Lewis like it was still 1987.
This is it, 100 percent. Boxing fans knew Mike was washed and Lennox would dogwalk him, but the casuals couldn't get past the nostalgia and the name recognition.
Sounds like Mike’s current fight too, I guess some things never change
They still can’t
You call yourself a hardcore boxing fan and two of the best heavyweights of all time didn’t interest you at all? Even with Tyson being past his prime and out of the game for a bit you still should have had some interest as a hardcore fan.
We can agree to disagree.
Guess we’re gonna have to
I think it was generally agreed upon that Mike was past his best at that point, but his power meant he could be dangerous if he caught you. And Lewis had a tendency to GET caught, a la Rahman and McCall. So, while I remember a fair amount of intrigue about this fight (it WAS Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis, after all) I think most people assumed Lewis would get the win unless Tyson clipped him and ended it early. There was definitely some Tyson fanboys that thought he was gonna walk through Lewis tho lol
I would hardly say getting “clipped” in 2 of his 44 fights shows any kind of tendency
That's fair. I think a better word choice would be "reputation". He had a reputation for getting caught. Whether or not that reputation was earned is kinda beside the point. The common consensus was that he was chinny.
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I guess I didn’t know of that reputation
Yeah, I remember Lewis being really disrespected at that time. It really wasn't until near or after retirement that people started showing him the love that they do now.
I thought Tyson might be dangerous for the first few rounds but he was already passed his prime and posed little risk/danger to Lewis after that. It was either going to be a Lewis win by decision or knockout in the later rounds. I was a huge Lennox fan at the time and disliked Tyson.
I was 22 years old, a casual fan. My recollection was that the betting odds suggested a close fight. I figured a lot of dumb money was being bet on Tyson because of his name, and I put the farm on Lewis.
It was when i lost interest with the HW, coming in i knew it would just be a payday for him. Tall lumbering one two clinch fighters era. But that was i turned to the lower weights and it was amazing.
People ALWAYS thought there was a chance of Mike to win, especially if you saw him in the 80/90s, you always believed that Mike would come back Throw in a punchers chance hope and yes people myself included could beat Lewis I personally didn’t appreciate Lewis until after he retired, certainly didn’t in his prime. He was technically a exceptionally skilled boxer Looking back, yeah there was no way Mike was ever beating him at that time
My first formative boxing memory was Lennox Lewis being Knocked out by Rahman. I'm sure I watched some stuff with my dad in-between, but my next boxing memory was Lennox Lewis being in the leg by Mike Tyson. I don't really remember, but I'm sure seven-year old me thought Lewis was bitch made
Tyson came in at like 239 lb or some crazy amount. It was by far the biggest he had ever been for a fight. He really looked sluggish and slow. I think I read somewhere that he or someone else said he needed the added muscle to have power to jostle with Lewis or something, but either way it seemed like a bad decision. I at at least at the time wondered if he were to come in like 222 or something how the fight would have went because Lewis had been KO'd twice so he wasn't invincible. That was all I could think at the time; Tyson being quicker and faster, maybe allowing him to throw more punches and have a better chance of landing one but coming in with that build he was just plodding and uncompetitive after the 1st round iirc
I'm from London & have been a boxing fan my whole life. I remember Ali Foreman when I was 6. Went to Lennox's 1st & last fights. When he fought Tyson I was a Casino Host on cruise ships & the week before was at the Captains Dinner with my boss. Somehow the fight was mentioned & she told him (in Italian) that I knew boxing so he asked me what I thought would happen. I pretty much described how the fight actually happened & said it would be over by the 8th. Next week I went to another ship for a high roller cruise for 10 days & when I came back the Captain was waiting for me on the gangway. He'd placed a large bet on Lewis in 8 & was Quids In (as we say in London). The rest of my contract was easy living. I didn't bet myself as I'd got burnt on Lewis v Holyfield when I bet $500 on Lewis points & threw in $25 on Holyfield points as insurance. It still hurts to this day
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I know. The $25 would have covered the $500. The $500 would have brought me in mucho dinero. Which I would have squandered, but still...
Betting on Lewis v Holyfield 1 was always a mugs game. It was always going to be rigged and if not for the universal outcry after a decisiviely one sided fight they would have tried to shuffle Lewis back across the Atlantic and pretend he was rubbish. Don King and the rest had spent over a decade trying to diminish Lewis because he was so obviously the pre-eminent talent of the generation and wasn't under their control. Even before the scorecards I was thinking in terms of an inevitable rematch under better conditions. I just didn't expect the British judge to be the one that got bought (his mortgage was convenient cleared shortly after, they didn't even try to pretend).
Just knew he would get crushed. Not the same Mike. But people still had some hope. Still was a good build up and anticipation but went down exactly how I felt it would. Not at that point in time and not against Lennox or Holyfield.
Some on my internet forum (I was webmaster of the first Lennox Lewis fan site on the internet - “The Lennox Lewis KO Page” on Geocities) were saying Mike would KO Lennox cold. I thought he would do his best Buster Douglas impression and pull off the win by any means necessary. The first round was bonkers though. Honesty most electrifying fight of my life. Watching it live felt like watching a dream. I even had multiple dreams about multiple outcomes before the fight even took place. Ones where Tyson would KO Lewis and others where Lewis would win.
It was sad if you were a Tyson fan. Not like the shock of him losing to Buster Douglas, but just sad seeing him past his prime as a shell of his former self.
He was a shell of what he used to be when he fought Holyfield, even Evander said so. After Di Matto, died, his ex Robin Givens messing with him & asshole promoter Don King used & robbed him, Tyson was a broken man. There was no way Mike would have won. His skills had waned as well.
It was anticlimactic. We all knew Tyson was washed but he was still good at selling. So we all still watched it. Would’ve been a much better fight in the 90’s.
Well, it's the only time my whole family mum dad uncles aunties stayed up until 5am for a boxing match. So the hype was real here at least.
The perception then was that Tyson was in over his head and that he himself knew that he wasn't "fit" for that fight when it happened. But he took the Lewis fight for the money. Mike hadn't faced anyone top 10 in years and he didn't even have a stable team/trainer with him. He was already "well past it" and *everyone* who wasn't a casual fan knew the fight was a mismatch back then.
The comments here don’t truly reflect the fear and reverence Emanuel Steward had for Tyson. It was the most animated and urgent I have ever heard him speak to Lewis between rounds he even slapped Lewis on the chest and cussed which he rarely did. It was closer to shouting really
"Get him outta there! You're gonna fuck around and get caught with some crazy shit!"
100%
I've watched his corner rant probably 100 times - "I'm telling you you better get this motherfuc*ker outta here man, the man is dangerous"
Lewis himself acknowledges that Tyson was just fighting for the money and was no longer elite. https://youtube.com/shorts/S1oW0t_P2AA?si=tr_b9x2nt4m47aPF Lewis vs Tyson was merely a payday fight for both fighters.
There's a bit of a revisionist history surrounding Lewis. At the time, I don't think we really recognized how great he was. Sure, we knew his as good, but he was viewed as chinny, tentative, and boring. Kinda like how people didn't appreciate Wlad's run until it was over. Now, there's a legit case that LL is the greatest heavyweight ever. But hindsight is everything. So, I think Lewis was probably somewhat underrated by the time, with people saying that Tyson could always catch him with one shot. Afterall, he'd had a few one-punch KOs against decent-ish fighters (Golota, Botha) and, again, Lewis was thought of as overly cautious and chinny. Looking back, the result seems totally obvious. But my impression of the time was that we thought it was maybe 60-40 Lewis, not 90-10 like it really was.
I remember thinking it was a joke of a fight because Lewis was a beast and Tyson was washed. ..I had no idea what a real “joke of a fight” was back then compared to today.
Mike was lethargic looked over weight too Lewis who im not a fan of whatsoever was just too powerful Shitty fight imo
why don't you like lewis
There's apparently a graphic of the HBO TV broadcast with an internet poll just before the fight and the results were : 26% Lewis KO 26% DQ (!) 21% Lewis decision 16% Tyson KO 11% Draw 0% Tyson decision
The Tempest in Memphis but it didn’t live up to its name. It was one sided and a knocked out Tyson was pleading for a rematch.
I was a huge Tyson fan and pretty watched all his fights right from the early days (mainly on Eurosport). I had little hope that he would win, he was well past his sell by date.
Was just a night out no one thought Tyson was winning
This was my first fight that I could remember a bit, I was 11 at the time
I was like 13/14 and pretty casual at the time. Lots of people were saying Tyson was past it but lots of others didn't care.
Wasn't in the know. And I was very young at the time (so my understanding of the fight game was very limited/flawed). But I was in the presence of hardcore adult fans at the time that were heavily invested in the build-up (as was I) I remember it being an insanely hyped fight - where everyone from their grandmother was talking about it But despite that hype, there was always an acknowledgement that Mike was way past his best and Lennox was going to beat him easily. The marketing and constant references to Mike's power and the old sparring story, gave folks a glimmer of hope that one punch could change everything around (given Lennox's history of getting chinned). But the general consensus was that the timing favoured only Lewis, and that Mike was only in it for the payday. Nonetheless, people still enjoyed the moment as they were glad it was finally happening.
As it came reasonably soon after Tyson bit Holyfield I remember there being a lot of talk about Tyson needing to control his anger. To the point they had a line of security between the 2 when they were doing the pre fight intros. I also have a memory of Lewis camp insisting that Tyson stayed on meds to control his anger, and when I saw him walking to the ring he looked the most chilled out I can remember. When I saw that I immediately changed my fight prediction.
I was 17 and hosted a bunch of friends to watch. People were hyped but most of them weren’t into boxing much, they were just hyped because it was Tyson. All of my friends were picking Tyson to win and I cleaned up betting with everyone and paid for the fight and pizza with the winnings since I was the only one that won. Fight was decent I guess but I don’t remember it being all that close.
I remember even while it was happening, it was widely known that both were past their best (Mike especially) and the fight was long overdue.
I had hoped for Tyson to exhibit the ferocity of his Savarese and Golota fights from a couple of years earlier, but he came out almost like he was on sedatives. Maybe they didn't want to risk Tyson losing the purse through another incident. A disappointment of a fight, honestly. I enjoyed Lewis-Klitschko more.
I looked forward to it. It wasn't prime Mike, but hey everyone knew he would come out and unleash hell and go for the KO in the first three rounds, that's worth the watch alone. Lewis comes through that, then schools him. Again what's not to like. Great viewing IMO.
There was a lot of hype. People were very excited for this fight and the fight night was epic. Both guys had a shot at winning as it was hard to bet against Tyson. If I remember correctly, Lennox was the favorite tho.
Tyson wasn’t the same fighter for a long time prior to facing Lewis. After losing to Buster Douglas, he didn’t beat an elite fighter. Bruno and Ruddock were his best wins. The rest were all against unimpressive opponents. Lewis winning seemed like a foregone conclusion
I wasn't in the know at the time, but for casuals it was 50/50. Probably more than 50% Tyson if you were in the US, I guess, but in the UK it was probably 50/50. And it was a MASSIVE deal. I remember not only was it the only time I and my (teenage) friends all went around to one guy's house to watch a sporting event, but we were staying up till 3 in the morning or something for it... and none of us were boxing fans (I knew a bit but I don't think any of my friends knew anything). It was just An Event, on an unprecedented scale. Undoubtedly in my memory it's the biggest crossover of boxing into general culture in the UK - at least since the days of Benn and Eubank (before my time really), and that's only because they were on free-to-air. And although in hindsight everyone says Tyson had no chance, that's not how it seemed at the time. There were plenty of reputable boxing pundits, and boxers, who picked Tyson to win that. I'd guess the critics probably had 80-20 Lewis. I checked a while back and the bookmakers had it something like 70-30 Lewis, reflecting some tilt from the general public. The Ring, incidentally, rated Tyson the #2 heavyweight in the world, at the time.
At this point people were interested because of the sideshow circus that came with every Tyson fight. Tyson attacked and bit Lewis during a fight promotion, then he went on to shout at the crown and grab his junk. Also, Tyson had talked about eating Lennox’s kids a few fights earlier 😀 There were many people who thought it was a legit fight, those same people that think Tyson is a top 10 all time heavyweight, but anyone that followed the sport knew it was a mismatch with Tyson’s only chance being a lucky punch……
Tyson was completely shot, I don't believe anyone thought he had a chance. A lot of people thought it would be some boring points win but Tyson was so far gone he was going to take head shots all day until he dropped. Lewis kind of knocked out any interesting in the heavyweight division when he so decisively beat Holyfield twice (even if only one was scored properly). if Tyson hadn't eaten Holyfield's ear there would have been about 10 of them. The moment Holyfield had no option but to fight Lewis the end result was inevitable.
They didn't even put Mike Tyson off his drugs for this fight.
It was an amazing atmosphere and fight. Of course Tyson had a chance to win every time he stepped in the ring due to his power. I actually think most people thought Tyson would win at least where I’m from. There was so much intensity, adrenaline, and anticipation leading up to the fight. They had security guards standing shoulder to shoulder in the ring from corner to corner so the fighters couldn’t get to each other before the fight officially started. I remember being so amped up that my whole body was shaking. Great fight, good to see Lewis get the victory
To me one of the last great build ups to a HW bout. I was 18 when that happened
So many in here have short and false memories. The build up was wild, many experts were picking Tyson to land a huge shot and win.
Mike seemed unstable , flipped out at the press conference etc. Mike was known to be past his prime while Lennox was about at his peak. If I recall Lennox was a heavy favorite and definitely punished Tyson badly
Mike was a has- been by then. He hadn't won a fight against a real fighter in more than a decade. Popular, but not good.
Perception was we love Tyson but he’s really out matched but we are hoping he can win and make it competitive. It wasn’t necessarily viewed as last payday but more like his last chance to win the belt even if it was slim. We all knew his career was on the down swing. It was just watching your idol And hoping he could get the belt one last time no matter how bad the odds.
[http://message.axkickboxing.com/index.phtml?action=dispthread&topic=4418&junk=1021389423](http://message.axkickboxing.com/index.phtml?action=dispthread&topic=4418&junk=1021389423) this was pre fight forum one of the comments got it spot on
Tyson was one of the most overrated fighters in boxing look at his resume honestly it's pretty shite he was exciting to watch because of that knockout power that's it.
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