Williams Offered Biggest Pay-day to Fight Tyson

Danny Williams, the former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion, is being lined up for Mike Tyson's comeback fight in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 30 after the original opponent, Kevin McBride of Ireland, pulled out in a dispute over money.

Tyson, 37, has had only one contest since losing to Lennox Lewis in June 2002, knocking out a fellow American, Clifford Etienne, in 49 seconds in February 2003. But Tyson has spent most of the estimated $300m he made from boxing and was declared bankrupt last year.

American boxing's coach of the year, Freddie Roach, has been working with the former champion in Phoenix, Arizona, and said he expects Tyson to be close to his optimum fighting weight of around 15st 10lb for the clash.

Williams, 31, has never fulfilled his potential and suffered a major setback last year when he lost a European title challenge against Turkey's Sinan Samil Sam and then surrendered his British and Commonwealth titles to Michael Sprott in January. Williams is believed to have been offered the biggest pay-day of his career.

Audley Harrison profited from what was condemned by most observers as a premature stoppage on Saturday when he maintained his undefeated record by stopping Poland's Tomasz Bonin in the ninth round at the Alexandra Palace in London. The 17th win of his career also marked the end of his contract with the BBC.

The Olympic super-heavyweight champion struggled against Bonin, and the fight was close on the judges' cards when he caught the Pole with a fierce uppercut in the ninth and then landed several solid shots that prompted the referee to leap between the fighters.

The loud and prolonged jeers told their own story, as did the thunderous ovation given Bonin, who was astonished the contest had been halted. "One more round and I would have got him anyway," claimed Harrison, who retained his spurious World Boxing Federation title.

Scott Harrison retained the World Boxing Organisation's featherweight title in Glasgow, stopping William Abelyan of Armenia in the third round. In Carson City, California, meanwhile, Mexico's Marco Antonio Barrera moved back into title contention, halting the American Paulie Ayala in nine rounds.