Lewis, Tyson in LA double-header

LOS ANGELES: A dream card featuring heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis in a title fight and Mike Tyson in a non-title preliminary bout has been given the go-ahead by the California State Athletic Commission.

The two fights will take place on June 21 and a news conference to announce the opponents will be held tomorrow, commission executive officer Rob Lynch told Reuters. Lynch said Britain’s Lewis will defend his World Boxing Council (WBC) title against either Canada’s Kirk Johnson or German-based Ukrainian heavyweight Vitali Klitschko. In January, Lewis called off a prospective bout with Klitschko. They had been due to meet this month. Tyson is expected to fight Russian Oleg Maskaev.

The fights will be held at Los Angeles’ Staples Centre, home of several of the city’s sports teams including NBA champions the Los Angeles Lakers. A Staples Centre spokesman had no immediate comment. A double-header featuring Lewis and Tyson had been proposed for the Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey on the same date, but that plan was dropped after the state’s governor James McGreevey made it clear that any application from Tyson for a boxing licence would be denied.

Tyson is a convicted rapist who infamously bit off part of Evander Holyfield’s ear during a fight. There have been no incidents during his last two bouts — his loss to Lewis last year and his 49-second knockout of Clifford Etienne in February. “Mike has not applied for a licence but we see nothing stopping him meeting the medical criteria,” Lynch said.