NEW YORK, Nov 21: Lennox Lewis may be in his sights but Ray Mercer will be Mike Tyson’s next opponent on January 19, the pay-per-view television provider Showtime announced Tuesday.

Tyson’s long-awaited meeting with Lewis could now take place after his fight with Mercer, which will go ahead at a venue yet to be arranged.

Lewis regained the World Boxing Council and Inter-national Boxing Federation world heavyweight titles by knocking out Hasim Rahman in the fourth round of their rematch in Las Vegas last Saturday.

Tyson, 35, the former undisputed champion of the world, is the WBC’s number one contender and therefore in line for a bout with Lewis.

Tyson, who has won 49 of his 52 fights, stopped Brian Nielsen in Copenhagen, Denmark five weeks ago in his first fight for almost a year.

On the Tyson-Nielsen undercard, Mercer (29-4-1) knocked out Brian Scott for his sixth straight win.

Mercer, 39, has never been knocked out.

He has lost to some good fighters, including Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield and Lewis.—Reuters