
October 15, 2001	Monday	Rajab 27, 1422

$100m bout may be shunted

COPENHAGEN, Oct 14: The prospect of a $100million super-fight between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis appears to have been shunted further into the future in the wake of Tyson’s demolition job on Denmark’s Brian Nielsen.

Tyson’s handlers had been hoping to use Saturday’s bout against Nielsen as a springboard into a money-spinning spring battle with Lewis next year.

But Tyson, who looked rusty on his way to a seventh round TKO of Nielsen, now wants further warm-up fights, possibly against Evander Holyfield or David Tua before contemplating any shot at the world title.

Lewis faces a return match against American champion Hasim Rahman in Las Vegas next month where he will attempt to regain the WBC and IBF belts he lost dramatically in South Africa in April.

With Tyson listed as the mandatory challenger with the WBC, and with Lewis and Tyson’s warring American cable television backers reaching agreement, the stage had been set for the two rivals to finally meet next spring.

Only a meeting with Lewis will be able to generate the sort of money Tyson needs to rid himself of his financial problems. Tyson’s manager Shelly Finkel, who heads the Showtime TV network, acknowledged as much when he said that he will be cheering for Lewis in the November 17 meeting with Rahman.

“For us Lewis is the big fight. We hope he wins the title next month. We’ve got agreement with HBO (Home Box Office, Lewis’ cable backers) for fights next year. He’s the one we want,” Finkel said.—AFP