I was rooting hard for Lennox Lewis to knock out Mike Tyson. Tyson is on my list of my least favorite fighters. I never liked his crass or foul mouth, and it was a privilege to see Evander Holyfield stop him in person in Vegas on November 9, 1996. The public wanted so hard to believe that in the build up for his match with Lewis, that he was still ‘Iron Mike’ Tyson, an image I never bought into.
Tyson got into the best possible shape he could, but the camps were so at war with each other, that in the ring before the bout started, a line of security guards stood separating them. Both had separate announcers, Michael Buffer for Lewis, and Jimmy Lennon for Tyson. HBO and Showtime shared the broadcast, with Jim Lampley and Bobby Czyz calling the action.
Tyson actually fought a decent first round, landing a few combinations, but Lewis landed a few sharp uppercuts as well. By the third round, I knew Tyson was finished, that Lennox had found the weapon in uppercuts, and eventually would knock Mike out.
In the fourth, Lennox opened a cut over Tyson’s eye and knocked him down. Eddie Cotton ruled it a slip, and his constant harassment of Lewis, stopping the fight for his holding was pathetic. His referee job was one of the worst ever, and it made you wonder if he was in the bag, seriously.
Lennox continued to punish the inept Tyson, and knocked him out with a thunderous right hand in the eighth round. I leapt from my recliner in excitement, and loved seeing the punk finished for good. No more title shots, no more of his crap. Goodbye forever, and good riddance to one of the most overhyped fighters to ever live.
Lennox Lewis solidified himself as the best heavyweight of the modern era, I don’t care what anyone says. He avenged his only two defeats, and I can’t name a single fighter that could have beaten him in his prime. June 8, 2002 was one of my favorites ever as a boxing fan, the night Lennox Lewis destroyed Mike Tyson.
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