“The People Saying That Tyson Was Old Don’t Realize Lewis Is Older”: Mike Tyson’s Loss to Lennox Lewis Remains a Hot Topic Among Fans to This Day

Ironically, two of the greatest heavyweight boxers of our times faced each other during the twilight years of their careers. But still, it had all that fans and followers coming in to witness the epic bout. Mike Tyson, who returned to the ring after a two-year ban brought upon by the infamous ‘Bite Fight,’ was about to turn thirty-six and decided to make a last attempt to regain the lost world titles. For the Briton, Lennox Lewis, it was the first title defense after recovering it all the previous year from Hasim Rahman.

The two Heavyweight master artists finally met in Memphis, Tennessee’s The Pyramid on June 02, 2002, for the WBC, IBF, IBO, and the Ring Heavyweight titles. Despite giving his heart out, by the seventh round, it was clear that Tyson was losing ground. A right cross from Lewis finally sealed his fate for good.

Fight Source, through its Facebook page, shared a five-minute clip of the momentous fight. They also posted a question to all the followers, “Do you think it would’ve gone down differently if Lennox was in there with a prime ‘Iron’ Mike?”

Soon a flurry of responses dropped in; some agreed while others never thought so.

Lennox Lewis versus Mike Tyson: Mayhem in Memphis; Fans react 

User Daniel Diaz emphasized that many followers made a fuss that Mike Tyson was old then but seemed to have forgotten that Lennox Lewis was older than him. He said, “The people saying that Tyson was old don’t realize Lewis is older.”

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User Kyle Kornum said, “Tyson couldn’t beat Lewis on his best day.”

Probably Mike Tyson could have barely harmed Lennox Lewis even in his prime, according to one fan.

Likewise, user Gordon Shand insists that due credit goes to Lennox Lewis for outboxing Mike Tyson that day. He didn’t allow any of the American Heavyweight’s plans to work, which in the end, proved the spoiler.

“Have to give it to Lewis; he was a clever boxer and could frustrate tyson.” he said.

But others seemed to differ.

User David Anthony Ronksley stated that Tyson could have won the fight. Simply put, the British boxer’s skills are pumped up. He said, “Tyson would have wiped the floor with him. Lewis was well over rated.”

User Paulie Fratta highlighted that Tyson was way past his prime. The outcome would have differed if Lewis had faced him at his peak.

“Now, I am not a Mike Tyson fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ll be the first to admit he was well separated from his prime years. Had they fought when Mike was at his best performance, he would’ve crashed that China chin in three rounds.” he said.

Lennox Lewis fought the following year against Vitali Klitschko again and hung his gloves. On the other hand, ‘Iron Mike’ continued a bit. He won his last professional fight against Clifford Etienne in 2003. But he lost the next two consecutive fights and finally bid goodbye to boxing in 2005.

Both Lewis and Tyson received a guaranteed paycheck of $17.5 million. Commercially the bout generated the highest PPV revenue  at the time, receiving nearly $107 million from roughly 2 million subscriptions in the US.

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What is your take on the reactions? Do let us know your views and opinions in the comments below.