Did Lennox Lewis step aside from a Mike Tyson fight?

Lennox Lewis (R) and Mike Tyson [Image Courtesy: @badlefthook on Twitter]

Lennox Lewis accepted a $4 million step aside deal in 1996 to allow Mike Tyson and Bruce Seldon to fight for the WBA Heavyweight title.

Back in 1996, Lennox Lewis was on the rise to the top once after his shock defeat to Oliver McCall. Lewis presented himself as the next opponent of Mike Tyson, however, 'Iron Mike' had other plans.

Lewis had become the No.1 Heavyweight WBC contender. He wanted to face Tyson, who was the WBC Heavyweight Champion at the time.

Tyson, however, wanted to fight WBA Heavyweight Champion Bruce Seldon. Lewis proceeded to take legal action against Tyson and his team and eventually won the case. The New Jersey Supreme court insisted that 'Iron Mike' should go head-to-head with 'The Lion' first.

However, Mike Tyson and his team figured out a step aside deal for Lewis. Tyson's team offered Lewis $4 million to move away from the fight. The deal was eventually accepted and Tyson went on to fight Bruce Seldon.

Mike Tyson went on to knock out Bruce Seldon inside the first round to claim the WBA belt. This was the perfect build-up to Lewis vs. Tyson, which happened nearly six years later in 2002.

June 8, 2002 | Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson: Is On 💥 https://t.co/OX0hu95YJT

Lewis went on to beat Mike Tyson in the eighth round of the fight after dominating him from start to finish. The event went on to become the highest selling pay-per-view event in history at the time and generated nearly $107 million from 1.95 million pay-per-view buys.

Lennox Lewis comments on Anthony Joshua's rumored step aside deal

Lennox Lewis has shared his thoughts on Anthony Joshua's step aside deal to allow Tyson Fury to fight Oleksandr Usyk first.

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the heavyweight division recently. It was reported that Anthony Joshua might accept a £15 million deal to step aside from his rematch against Oleksandr Usyk.

If Anthony Joshua accepts the deal, he can then go on to fight the winner of Usyk vs. Fury and attempt to get his titles back. However, putting himself in Joshua's position, Lewis suggested that he would've tried to get his titles back first. While replying to a fan over Twitter who asked for his opinion, 'The Lion' said:

"No! And before you bring up the Tyson step aside money… just remember, I wasn’t coming off of a loss. I would go get my belts back first. This also is not advice or a knock on AJ. It’s just what I would do in that situation."

No! And before you bring up the Tyson step aside money… just remember, I wasn’t coming off of a loss. I would go get my belts back first. This also is not advice or a knock on AJ. It’s just what I would do in that situation. twitter.com/paul_m_14/stat…

The heavyweight division is filled with uncertainty at the moment. It will be interesting to see whether Anthony Joshua accepts a step-aside deal or if he tries to avenge his loss by taking on the Ukrainian first.