“The first three punches were mine and the first bite was his,” were the words of Lennox Lewis to describe his infamous brawl with Mike Tyson. On January 22, 2002, every single boxing fan glued themselves to the television to finally see two of the greatest heavyweights of the 90s lock horns ahead of their fight.

A fight that was sought out by everyone finally happened in 2002 in the most lucrative boxing match of all time. But it is a kind of shame that the pre-match shenanigans by both these boxers stole the show rather than the actual match. Both of them lost their control, and the world has yet to see a more vicious brawl than this. Ahead of Tyson’s fight against Jake Paul, his then-bodyguard Chuck Zito sat down with DJ Vlad and revealed his experience of the infamous brawl.

Mike Tyson’s brawl: Zito’s bold rescue

Vlad asked Zito about some interesting story about Mike Tyson, and the first thing that he brought out was the hotel brawl during the pre-fight faceoff between their two teams. Zito stated that he was at the hotel during the incident and proceeded to state how the brawl started and how he was at the far back. “He came face to face and then uh the bodyguard came up to Mike and Mike went to hit him and you know Lennox hit him and it was a big brawl but I was in the back when this happened,” recalled Zito.

Chuck Zito then revealed that he had to run from the back to get involved in the brawl and protect Mike Tyson. “I came running out the time I got there it was a big pile so I’m going through,” stated Zito.

He then talked about how he was wearing his long duster with Hell’s Angel patch on it. Funnily enough, after this description, you can easily identify Zito in the footage running in and pulling people apart from each other to find Tyson. He stated, “All you seeing was me pulling people out looking for Mike,” with a big smile on his face.

This became one of the biggest melees the world had ever seen.  Every single boxing fan who watched it live will be able to recite everything that happened in the Hudson Theatre that night.

Lennox Lewis with the last laugh

On January 22, 2002, fans, media, and representatives from both camps filled the Hudson Theatre in New York. The tension was high. After all, these two heavyweights who had been at each other’s throats for years were finally coming face to face. Iron Mike heated things when he started menacingly moving toward Lewis and started shouting obscenities at him and his team.

His taunts did not go unanswered as Lewis took a heavy swing at the youngest heavyweight champion ever. The two giants clashed as Mike Tyson reportedly bit his rival on the right thigh, leaving a small mark. With the security and team intervening, this brawl escalated too quickly for anyone to realize what had happened. Even the then-WBC president José Sulaimán was knocked out in the ensuing brawl.

It took a few minutes to bring things under control, but by then, the damage was done. The Nevada State Athletic Commission launched an investigation against the 50-6 boxer and in the end, fined him $335,000 for biting Lewis. They even refused to grant Tyson a license to box in Nevada. Several other states also refused to allow Mike Tyson to box in their state. As a result, a new location had to be finalized.

The fight eventually happened on June 8, 2002, in Memphis, Tennessee. Lennox Lewis had the last laugh as he defeated Mike Tyson. Lewis came firing on all cylinders and knocked Tyson out in the eighth round and became the undisputed heavyweight champion. This loss also started a downward spiral for Tyson, as the fighter never won another world title after this loss, eventually retiring in 2005.

What are your views regarding the infamous Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis brawl? Do you think it was Tyson’s fault? Let us know your thoughts down below.