LEWIS vs. TYSON WAS TURNED ON!

WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT REGISTERS 1.8 MILLION BUYS

NEW YORK, NY – June 11, 2002---The long-awaited, highly-anticipated heavyweight showdown between reigning heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson last Saturday night registered 1.8 million pay-per-view buys in the U.S. The announcement was made today by Donovan Gordon, Senior Vice President, Sales and Affiliate Marketing, SHOWTIME Sports and Event Programming, and Mark Taffet, Senior Vice President of HBO Sports.

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 50 states.

The Lewis vs. Tyson telecast generated $103 million of pay-per-view revenue, the highest-grossing pay-per-view event in history.

Said Mark Taffet of HBO: “It was a pay-per-view masterpiece that lifted the sport and gave boxing fans a night to remember. We are thrilled that Lennox Lewis gave a performance for the ages on a night in which a new pay-per-view revenue record was set.”

Said Donovan Gordon of Showtime: “We are proud to have presented this historic sporting event to the world. Lewis vs. Tyson exceeded our expectations on many different levels. This event received an enormous amount of support from the pay per view industry, the city of Memphis, the media and the participants. The result is an excellent event with record-breaking revenue.”

The telecast from the Pyramid in Memphis featured the historic showdown of the heavyweight division’s two biggest names. Lewis, a three-time heavyweight champion, retained his title by scoring a dominating 8th round KO 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 historic showdown was co-produced and co-distributed by SHOWTIME and HBO.

The Lewis-Tyson heavyweight title fight will be replayed exclusively on HBO this Saturday, June 15, at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.