Lewis Edges Further From Tyson Fight

While Mike Tyson's backers continue their increasingly desperate attempts to find a new venue for an unlikely fight against the world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, both Lewis and the American TV company HBO have hinted that the deal is as good as off.

Tyson has already taken the first step towards moving the fight to Los Angeles. Rob Lynch, the executive director of the California State Athletic Commission, said yesterday that a fax was received from Tyson's lawyers requesting consideration for a licence.

Las Vegas police, meanwhile, were still waiting for the decision from the Clark County district attorney's office whether to give them the go-ahead to arrest and charge Tyson with sexual assault after their investigation of an alleged rape. If Tyson is charged it will remain legally possible for him to box while awaiting trial but it is likely he would be deemed impossible to promote.

HBO's head of boxing Ross Greenburg was dismayed by Tyson's antics at last week's chaotic press conference in New York which contributed to the refusal of the Nevada State Athletic Commission to grant him a licence. "A little bit of illegitimacy has been thrown on the event and that bothers us," he said. "We don't want to be tied to any event that tarnishes the image of boxing."

Given Tyson's history, Greenburg's statement might be viewed as surprising. But his company's apparent lack of resolve in attempting to solve the venue problem, while lining up Chris Byrd as an opponent for Lewis, has prompted speculation that HBO is content to watch its partner in the promotion, its TV rival Showtime, fail in its attempts to find a solution.

Lewis was interviewed on the Larry King Live show on CNN on Thursday and though he did not say he no longer wanted to fight Tyson, which might have left him open to claims he was in breach of contract, his reticence was obvious. Asked if he would fight Tyson, Lewis said: "You have to realise that Mike Tyson needs some help. And I think he should get the proper help first before he thinks about boxing.

"If you're going against the rules and you're trying to punch somebody low, head-butt, break somebody's arm, bite somebody, that just brings a different context to boxing. I don't want to go into the ring with Mike Tyson if it's not a boxing match."

The list of overseas venues ready to host to any fight is growing, however. South Africa, the Philippines and the Netherlands are all under consideration but it seems unlikely any could come up with the $12m necessary in the form of a guaranteed site fee payable to the promotion.

Meanwhile the promoter Panos Eliades has won the preliminary round of his multimillion-pound legal fight with Lewis. An order freezing the worldwide assets of the promoter was thrown out by a high court judge, who said he was concerned it was a tactical move by Lewis's lawyers to disrupt Eliades's preparations for the New York stage of the lawsuit, which begins next week.