Could this happen in India? Wouldn't our big broadcasters just wish it were so. The heavyweight showdown between reigning heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson on Saturday night (Sunday morning in India) registered a massive 1.8 million pay-per-view buys in the US. The telecast generated $103 million of pay-per-view revenue, the highest-grossing pay-per-view event in history.

The 1.8 million buys represents the highest figure for a heavyweight pay-per-view prizefight since 1997. In fact, it is the first prizefight to do more than one million buys since 1999, when two fights surpassed the one million-buy mark. The buys consisted of 1.2 million buys from cable systems and 600,000 from satellite homes throughout the US. 

Lewis, a three-time heavyweight champion, retained his title by scoring a dominating 8th round knockout victory. The event was presented by Budweiser and promoted by Lion Promotions, Main Events and Fight Night, Inc. in association with Prize Fight Promotions, LLC.

The showdown was co-produced and co-distributed by SHOWTIME and HBO. In India the fight aired live on Sunday morning on Star Movies.