Lennox Lewis lifts lid on Mike Tyson press conference fight and reveals ‘first punches were mine and first bite was his’
LENNOX LEWIS has lifted the lid on his infamous press conference brawl with Mike Tyson which involved biting and a punch up.
In 2002, the heavyweight rivals were finally set to face each other.
It was the most lucrative boxing match of all time, but the pre-fight antics threatened to steal the show.
In the documentary, Lennox: The Untold Story, it’s revealed Lewis anticipated a melee with Tyson before arriving to the presser.
His long time friend Courtney Shand said, in an extract shared by talkSPORT: “There was tension when we got to New York.
“The night before the press conference, he said ‘If Mike makes a move for me, forget all the money – I’m not backing down from him, I’m not backing up from him.’”
In was supposed to be a standard pre-fight face-off, but all hell broke loose when Tyson marched towards Lewis and swung for his bodyguard.
Lewis, now 55, recalled: “All of a sudden I saw him take his hat off, throw it on the ground and start marching towards me.
“Boom. I was on it – the first three punches were mine and the first bite was his.”
Tyson was forced to pay Lewis around £260,000 for biting his leg, while the brawl almost saw the mega-fight cancelled all together.
Las Vegas was due to host the grudge match but the Nevada State Athletic Commission decided not to re-license Tyson.
As a result, promoters were left scrambling to find an alternative to the fight capital of the world.
Memphis would eventually be selected as the pay-per-view was forced back by two months.
Tyson at the time had not lost since 1997, when he was disqualified for biting Evander Holyfield’s ear.
Lewis on the other hand was the unified heavyweight king and golden boy of the division.
Lewis prevailed with an eight round knockout when the duo – who once sparred as amateurs – eventually did meet in the ring.
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The Brit then fought Vitali Klitschko a year later before retiring as champion.
Tyson would carry on and returned with a win against Clifford Etienne in 2003.
But after dismal defeats to Brit Danny Williams and Kevin McBride, the youngest heavyweight champion off all time finally retired in 2005.
Amazingly, 15 years on and the 54-year-old is preparing to make a comeback.
He faces fellow legend Roy Jones Jr, 51, in an eight-round spectacle on Saturday.
