Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis' 2002 bout proved to be one of the biggest fights the sport of boxing has ever seen. However, it is worth noting that the bout was supposed to take place in 1996, but Lewis took $4 million to step-aside and let 'Iron Mike' fight Bruce Seldon instead.
The two eventually squared off six years later, and the fight was a massive financial success.The event became the highest grossing PPV event at the time. The fight sold a total of 1.95 million PPV buys and generated $106.9 million from the same.
It was later surpassed by the 2007 matchup between Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya. However, it is still the highest earning heavyweight fight in the history of the sport.
Moreover, both Lewis and Tyson were guaranteed a payday of $17.5 million for the fight. However, it is worth noting that their actual pay-outs were much higher thanks to the inclusion of PPV points.
As far as the fight goes, Lennox Lewis asserted his dominance over Mike Tyson in the early rounds. The Brit was constantly piling on pressure, and eventually hit 'Iron Mike' with a heavy right cross to drop him in the eighth round. Tyson tried to get up, but he was counted out by the referee and Lewis walked away with a KO victory.
How much money did Mike Tyson make on average per-fight?
Tyson earned roughly $7.5 million per fight on average during the entirety of his boxing career. 'Iron Mike' started his journey as a professional boxer in 1985 and went on to become arguably one of the most famous personalities the sport has ever seen.
Tyson became the youngest heavyweight champion at just 20 years of age with a knockout over Trevor Berbick. From that point on, 'Iron Mike' went on to become one of the highest paid boxers of the time.
While not all of Mike Tyson's fight purses are known, an estimate according to Celebrity Net Worth suggests that the former heavyweight champion made $413 million in his boxing career. That estimates to be about $7.5 million per fight, and some of his biggest pay-outs have come against the likes of Lennox Lewis, Frank Bruno, Evander Holyfield, Michael Spinks and Peter McNeely.