Mike Tyson has fought some of the toughest fighters of all time, but he had to pay a big sum to avoid facing Lennox Lewis years before their eventual bout.
The all-time great Heavyweight champion went on a tear after his release from prison in 1995, beating Peter McNeeley, Buster Mathis Jr, and Frank Bruno en route to becoming WBC Heavyweight champion.
Lennox Lewis was set to challenge Mike Tyson in 1996, becoming the #1 contender to his belt after beating Ray Mercer in May that year.
However, it would take another six years for the bout to take place, although the British-Canadian fighter was very happy with the arrangement around him not fighting Tyson.
- READ MORE – Mike Tyson clashed with 330lb kickboxing legend before a callout nearly two decades later reignited feud
Mike Tyson paid $4 million to Lennox Lewis in order to face Bruce Seldon instead
A clash between Tyson and Lewis was snuffed out in 1996, despite the Olympic gold medalist being the mandatory challenger for the WBC Heavyweight Championship.
Tyson wanted to face WBA title holder Bruce Seldon instead, and was forced to pay Lewis a $4 million fee to forgo his own title shot.
This was a year after Lewis beat Tommy Morrison to become the IBC Heavyweight champion, so the bout with Tyson would have been a big one, likely earning him a lot more than a $4 million fee.
Happy to avoid getting in the ring with the most dangerous fighter on the planet, Lewis accepted the fee, and Tyson booked a clash with the WBA Champion that ended in some deep controversy.
The fight didn’t last past the first round, as many Tyson fights didn’t. However, the legitimacy of the fight was in question when Seldon was “knocked out” by a straight right that appeared to barely connect with the champion.
The audience even began to chant “fix” as what was supposed to be a huge win for Iron Mike ended in an embarrassing display, with Seldon retiring for eight years immediately after the phantom punch fiasco.
The bout is also infamous for the attendance of rapper Tupac Shakur, who was shot and killed just hours after the bout.
Mike Tyson eventually battled Lennox Lewis six years later at the end of his career
Tyson went on to face Evander Holyfield in two fights that culminated in the infamous ear-biting incident after the Seldon win, delaying his fight with Lewis for more than half a decade.
In that time, Lewis became the undisputed Heavyweight champion of the world, staking his claim as one of the greatest boxers ever.
It would take until 2002 for the pair to finally face off, albeit towards the end of their storied career. Two years prior, Tyson threatened to eat Lewis’s children to build up to the bout, which added some huge and frankly bizarre stakes to the title fight.
Lewis used his height and weight advantage to dominate Tyson, eventually knocking him out in the 11th round to cement himself as an all-time great Heavyweight boxer.