Memphis fans, 21,142 strong, filled towards the rafters given that hometown Tigers took regarding the DePaul that is 20th-ranked Blue from Chicago. “It was amazing,” he remembers. “Because we arrived on the scene against a top-ranked group in the nation in DePaul. ESPN install it. Dick Vitale ended up being here. The complete nine yards. The audience ended up being acutely noisy that therefore the arena ended up being state-of-the-art. evening”
1992: Guard Anfernee Hardaway of this Memphis State Tigers dribbles the ball along the court during a . [+] game from the DePaul Blue Demons in the Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee. Credit: Allsport /Allsport
The Pyramid continued to host University of Memphis basketball games, often ranking among the top programs nationally in attendance while filling its cavernous hold with fans clad in the school’s colors, blue and gray for the duration of the 1990s. But by the very very very early 2000s, a brand new period ended up being dawning in Memphis. The town had swung and missed on an NFL expansion group within the 90s, but finally guaranteed a league that is major in 2001, as soon as the NBA’s Grizzlies had been lured to Tennessee from Vancouver.
The Grizzlies had been an instantaneous hit into the town that is basketball-crazed. Nevertheless the summer time following the very first major league period in Memphis history, the Pyramid arrived face-to-face having its biggest payday loans cumbria evening, a night larger than baseball.
MEMPHIS, TN – 15: Memphis Grizzlies’ fan Evan O’Connor, 6, gets a boost from brother Ryan november .
[+] O’Connor, 12, due to the fact Grizzlies come close to beating the Timberwolves through the last half 15 November 2001 in the Pyramid in Memphis, Tennesee. The Timberwolves pulled ahead into the final moments to beat the Grizzlies 99-95. LANCE MURPHEY/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson
“Penny Hardaway ended up being probably the most famous occupant that is permanent of building,” tells Geoff Calkins, a Memphis-based activities columnist since 1996. “But I think you may make a quarrel that [the battle] ended up being the greatest sporting occasion ever when you look at the reputation for Memphis.”
The battle occurred on June 8, 2002 when Mike Tyson challenged Lenox Lewis when it comes to WBC World Title beneath the rafters that are very Hardaway played university baseball ten years earlier in the day.
The heavyweight contest was in fact initially planned to occur in nevada, but after a press seminar brawl amongst the two opponents, the continuing State of Nevada declined to give Tyson a boxing permit. Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton—an amateur boxer who’d carry on to fight Joe Frazier in A beale that is bizarre street match years later—swung for the Tyson/Lewis struggle with a $12 million bid and won it.
Herenton’s slug that is civic house.
Into the times prior to the battle, worldwide news descended in the town in droves. Personal jets lined the tarmac of Memphis airport terminal.
A buzz that is tangible the air while the Pyramid became the epicenter associated with the recreations globe.
Because the bell rang, the Tyson/Lewis battle set an archive when it comes to greatest grossing event in pay-per-view history, netting $106 million from people and a $17.5 million bag for the combatants. The undercard showcased a young filipino fighter known as Manny Pacquiao. Plus the scene, in accordance with Calkins, ended up being bedlam.
“It was Hollywood fulfills the Vegas Strip fulfills Beale Street all right there tucked into this ass that is crazy pyramid on the river. It couldn’t have now been more electric,” he defines.
MEMPHIS, TN – 8: Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson fight for the WBC, IBO, IBF, Ring and Lineal june . [+] heavyweight titles on June 8, 2002 during the Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee. Lewis won the fight having a 8th round ko. (picture by consider Sport/Getty pictures)