MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Before agreeing to co-produce and distribute what is being billed as the most lucrative prizefight ever, bitter rivals HBO and Showtime first had to find neutral ground.

Before Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson could climb into the ring June 8 at The Pyramid to fight for the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation heavyweight titles, their respective networks had to thrash out what both sides call a "groundbreaking" deal.

Of course, that required the networks to speak to each other, something that couldn't be taken for granted.

When Mark Greenberg, executive vice president of corporate strategy and communications for Showtime Networks, and HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg first got together some 15 months ago to discuss a joint broadcast, an initial, but telling, goodwill gesture was made.

"When Ross and I first decided to sit down for lunch, we tried to find a neutral site, halfway between HBO and Showtime," Greenberg said.

That the networks were willing to meet at all, even at a New York restaurant, after years of frosty relations and fierce competition, signaled not just that the ice might finally be melting but that here was a fight too big not to make happen.

It was requisite that the networks agree to such a deal, the first of its kind between HBO and Showtime. The champion, Lewis, is bound to HBO by a multi-fight contract. Tyson similarly is obligated to Showtime. Neither side ever would have allowed its boxer to fight on the other's network.

"As Lewis defeated each and every foe, and with Tyson contractually bound to Showtime, it was inevitable that I would be asked to sit down and negotiate a Tyson-Lewis deal," said HBO's Greenburg. "I saw it coming from a mile away. ... It's been exhausting."

The erstwhile nemeses agreed to co-produce and distribute the fight on pay-per-view, with profits from the $54.95 household rate and commercial subscriptions expected to surpass the "buys" generated by the 1997 rematch between Tyson and Evander Holyfield. That fight, produced by Showtime Event Television (SET), had a buy rate of 1.9 million.

Shelly Finkel, an adviser to Tyson, said it was the responsibility of the networks to make Lewis-Tyson happen.

"I believe they knew it had to be done, and they did it," Finkel said. "This was for the benefit of the fighters and the public. It would have reflected poorly on them if it didn't get done."

Few details regarding the nature of the telecast, from the broadcast teams to tape-delayed broadcasts -- there might not be any -- are available. Greenberg said the pay-per-view telecast would be non-branded. In other words, it would not carry the logo of either HBO PPV or SET.

"We came to the realization we have to sell the event, not us," Greenberg said. "Once we got past that, we were able to do it."

HBO's Greenburg likens the joint Lewis-Tyson venture to the simultaneous broadcast by CBS and NBC of Super Bowl 1 in 1967. The difference was that each network -- CBS representing the National Football League, NBC the American Football League -- aired the game using their own broadcast teams.

"We set out with Showtime to make a groundbreaking deal in the rarest of circumstances, and that's what we've done," he said. "It was in the mutual interests of both networks, otherwise we'd never have gotten together.

"At the same time, I don't think you're going to see us banding together for a series of prizefights."

The fighters themselves caused a few hiccups along the way. Lewis losing the WBC and IBF titles to Hasim Rahman in April 2001 didn't help -- he later won them back from Rahman -- and Tyson's fracas with members of Lewis's entourage at a Jan. 22 press conference in New York almost killed the fight.

Lewis and Tyson originally were set to meet April 6 in Las Vegas, but Nevada denied Tyson's request for a license following the New York brawl. When Memphis stepped forward it resuscitated the networks' negotiations.

"There were plenty of times when we thought it was crashing and burning and never would happen," Greenburg said. "The events of Jan. 22 almost ensured it never would happen.

"There were a lot of times I was willing to walk away from it because of the antics of the other fighter (Tyson). After Jan. 22 I said, 'This is ridiculous. I don't want to be a part of this.' When Memphis stepped forward we got the juices flowing and we set out to make it happen."

It was the cordial relationship between Ross Greenburg and Mark Greenberg, who spent eight years at HBO before joining Showtime 13 years ago, which helped make the deal possible.

Helping melt away any hostility were the millions of dollars at stake. Profits from the pay-per-view telecasts will be distributed down the middle, Greenberg said, and they are sure to be substantial. Each fighter is guaranteed a minimum of $17.5 million, and the networks stand to make their fair share.

"We have a real financial interest in this fight," Showtime's Greenberg said. "We didn't do this for charity. If we didn't have some skin in the game ... this wouldn't have come off."

The networks also were under pressure from their fighters to make the event a reality.

"The biggest driving force was the boxers themselves," HBO's Greenburg said. "Lennox Lewis made it clear he wanted to fight Mike Tyson and dispose of Mike Tyson to make this his era. He felt if he didn't fight Tyson, he couldn't do that.

"He also wanted to make multi-millions of dollars."

With the deal done, the fight set and only the details to be worked out, the networks are left to hope nothing happens between now and June 8 to again put the fight -- and a truly unique television arrangement -- in jeopardy.

Both Showtime and HBO hope the fight not only lives up to its billing as a sporting spectacle, but as a testament to what they see as 15 months of pioneering work.

"The HBO-Showtime deal is part of the lure," Greenburg said. "It's a dramatic subplot to the event.

"Hopefully it will measure up as a great sporting event."

Greenburg, who can appreciate what CBS and NBC accomplished 35 years ago, thinks it sad that no known, full-length tape of either broadcast exists. Regardless of whether the taped broadcast of Lewis-Tyson ever actually airs on HBO proper, Greenburg promised his network would not make a similar omission.

"I can assure you," he said, "that we're going to keep this one."