by Dane McGuire

“Iron” Mike Tyson wasn’t done with boxing exhibitions after his battle with Roy Jones Jr. went to a draw. Tyson told TMZ in late April he’d be fighting Lennox Lewis in a rematch this September and Lewis recently said he’d fight Tyson again, although in December.

Lewis said on a recent episode of “2worldchamps” podcast an announcement would be coming soon. No other details are available as of this writing. When the two first fought in 2002, Lewis knocked out Tyson at the 2:25 mark in Round 8 of 12.

BoxRec.com’s notes on the 2002 bout with Lewis say, “Lewis vs. Tyson was the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history, generating $106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the USA. It was surpassed by Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007. It remains, however, the highest-grossing heavyweight pay-per-view event in boxing history.”

The BoxRec notes page continues, “On January 22, 2002, there was a press conference in New York City to officially announce the fight. Tyson was introduced first. He strode onstage and then stared in the direction of where Lewis was supposed to appear.

When Lewis came onstage, Tyson quickly walked toward him. A Lewis bodyguard stepped between them and pushed Tyson back. Tyson quickly took a fighting stance and threw a roundhouse left at the bodyguard that missed. Lewis raised his fists and threw a punch as dozens of boxing officials and members of both camps swarmed onto the stage. With all the pushing and shoving, both fighters went to the floor.

While they were on down, Tyson, who suffered a cut on his forehead, bit Lewis’ leg. WBC president Jose Sulaiman was knocked unconscious in the melee when he hit his head on a table. On August 1, 2002, he filed a $56 million lawsuit against Lewis and Tyson.”

The brawl at the press conference was named the 2002 Event of the Year by The Ring. Lewis’ knockout of Tyson was named the 2002 Knockout of the Year by The Ring.

MMAFighting reported in April that following the win over Tyson, Lewis (41-2-1) would go on to compete one final time a little over a year later and defeated Vitali Klitschko via sixth-round TKO in June 2003.

Tyson would go 1-3 in his final pro fights including the Lewis bout. He’d last defeat Clifford Etienne in February 2003 before dropping bouts to Danny Williams in 2004 and finally Kevin McBride in 2005.

BoxingJunkie.com notes the Hall of Famers are 55 years old. Tyson’s record stands at 50-6, with 44 KOs and Lewis’ is 41-2-1, with 32 KOs. Lewis turns 56 on Sept. 2.