Bad blood between heavyweight boxing stars Lennox Lewis and Hasim Rahman boiled over on the set of ESPN’s ‘Up Close’ show back in 2001, leading to an all-out brawl between the two that would later be dubbed, ‘Anarchy In Anaheim’ by the media.
On April 22nd, just four months earlier, Rahman had shocked the world by knocking Lewis out with a blistering right hand to become the new unified heavyweight champion of the world.
That was only the second defeat of Lewis’ hall-of-fame career and he immediately began pursuing a rematch at the earliest possible opportunity.
That second fight was eventually made official for November 17th after Lewis forced the issue by legal means – a fact that didn’t sit well with Rahman, who would go on to question his rival’s sexuality during a radio interview that August.
Just days later the two fighters were sitting side-by-side at ESPN HQ being interviewed on ‘Up Close’, and it soon became clear that Lewis was seething at the fact that Rahman had inferred he was ‘gay’ and confronted him directly about it.
Throwing political correctness out the window, Rahman explained that, I said it was gay to take it to the court. I don’t know why he was so offended.”
That wasn’t enough for Lewis though, who replied that I am 200% a woman’s man. If you are worried about that, bring your sister.”
That comment left Rahman fuming and suddenly the two were on their feet squaring up to each other, chest-to-chest.
The two boxers were soon clinched up and colliding with furniture on the set as others rushed in to attempt to separate them.
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For a moment they were pulled apart, but then Lewis went after Rahman again, only to be pushed back to the desk they had been sitting at moments earlier, which collapsed under his weight and sent him falling to the floor.
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Others then got in-between the two, but after getting back to his feet Lewis attempted several times to get back to Rahman and at some point in the melee ripped jewelry from his neck.
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Despite the chaotic scenes, the rematch would go ahead as planned three months later, with Lewis getting his revenge by brutally knocking out Rahman in the fourth round to reclaim his titles and status as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
