Lewis Sets a Tyson Deadline

Mike Tyson may be on the verge of walking away from a multimillion rematch with the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis after being warned he must agree to the fight by the end of next week or run the risk of losing the June 21 date which has been pencilled into TV schedules.

Under the terms of the contract for Lewis-Tyson 1, which Lewis won last year with an eighth-round knockout, the American was allowed one interim fight before facing Lewis again. He recently fought Clifford Etienne, a bout which lasted only 49 seconds.

Lewis's manager Adrian Ogun has said: "We are working to a very tight schedule so we have to have a formal response from Showtime [the TV company to whom the former champion is contracted] and Tyson by the end of next week.

"Lennox is exploring all his options, and they include fighting and not fighting and all the possible consequences. The conditions have got to be right."

Lewis has been given the June 21 slot for a Tyson fight by HBO, with which the Briton has a long-term agreement. If the contest takes place it would be a joint Showtime-HBO production - like the first fight - but Tyson might prefer to go it alone rather than face the probability of another defeat.

Normally promoters insist on two or three weeks of press conferences and interviews to raise interest, and Lewis would be unlikely to agree to anything less than his usual two-month programme of training.

Lewis, 37, has intimated that he is unwilling to take anything other than a big-money fight, and has been inactive since facing Tyson. A proposed April defence against the Ukrainian Vitali Klitschko fell through even though Lewis was reported to be on a $10m (£6.4m) guarantee.

However, he may have no option other than to take significantly less than his anticipated purse for Tyson, which would be in excess of $20m, if he is determined to return in June. Alternatively he may also feel he could prosper from a legal action if his advisers believe Tyson is in breach of contract for ducking the date.

Tyson knows he needs more competitive action before he takes another fight against a fighter of Lewis's stature, and sources suggest Lewis-Tyson II will almost certainly not go ahead on June 21, and possibly not at all.

The World Boxing Organisation, whose featherweight champion Scott Harrison defends his title against Belfast's Wayne McCullough in front of a sell-out crowd of almost 6,000 in Glasgow tomorrow, would like the winner to defend against the world No1 Marco Antonio Barrera.

Andrew Golota went on trial yesterday charged with brawling in the Baltic resort of Sopot in his native Poland last November. The prosecution claimed he punched a 41-year-old man several times, causing concussion.The heavyweight, who denies the charge, could face five years in prison.