| | Lewis
gives Tyson until end of year for showdown
LONDON
(AP) --
Lennox Lewis, the WBC and IBF champion, is giving Mike Tyson until
the end of the year to agree to a heavyweight showdown.
Lewis' next title
defense is scheduled for April 21. With no deal yet for a Tyson fight, he is considering
David Izon and Hasim Rahman as possible opponents. Lewis said he believes Tyson,
the former undisputed champion, is running scared.
"This is the only logical
assumption," he was quoted as saying Thursday in the Daily Express. "The door
has been open for him all this time and still he chooses not to walk through."
"He is waiting for me to retire, to give up the belts I worked so hard to claim
as mine, to announce a comeback and to win back the title that way.
It
is the only possible way he could possibly reclaim those belts." Lewis said he'll
give Tyson until Jan. 1 to commit to a fight. "I don't want to hang around forever,"
he said. "It's all up to him." Negotiations for a Lewis-Tyson fight are complicated
by the fact that both fighters are under contract with rival television companies.
On Tuesday, state regulators suspended Tyson's Michigan boxing license
for 90 days and fined him $5,000 for refusing to submit to a urine test before
his Oct. 20 victory over Andrew Golota. Tyson tested positive for marijuana after
the bout, according to news reports Wednesday. Lewis
plans next title defense for April 21
London, England (Sports
Network) -
WBC and IBF heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis said on Monday
that he intends to next defend his titles on April 21. Lewis named American Hasim
Rahman and David Izon Ghana as possible foes for his next bout, but not Mike Tyson.
The fight is likely to be held in Las Vegas. Lewis posts a 38-1-1 record with
29 knockouts. | |