August 30, 2001: During a taped interview on ESPN's Up Close, Hasim Rahman and Lennox Lewis, who had been booked to discuss their upcoming Nov. 17 heavyweight rematch, fought each other in front of a live studio audence, bringing the interview to a screeching halt as those nearby tried to pull the fighters off each other. The scuffle happened in an interesting period in sports. It, along with the Danny Almonte scandal and Barry Bonds' chase to break the single-season home run record, was one of the last mainstream sports stories before 9/11. It was also a time when boxing still had life left in it, a time when mixed martial arts posed no challenge to fans of combat sports.

Times changed. Boxing is now basically irrelevant, and little of anything is remembered that took place leading up to September 11th. For the most part, Lewis and Rahman's pre-fight fight has gone forgotten, even as it turns ten years old this year.

The interview began innocently enough. The two combatants sat side-by-side at the same roundtable, Lewis with his dreadlocks and blazer, Rahman in a white sleeveless hoodie. Gary Miller, the host, asked why there hadn't been more verbal sparring from them. Rahman even playfully handed Lewis a belt at one point.

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