Lewis may lose title in fight row

Lennox Lewis has been warned that he could be stripped of one of his two world heavyweight championships if he fights American Chris Byrd in April.

As revealed by Standard Sport, Byrd is being lined up to replace Mike Tyson as a challenger to Lewis in Las Vegas on Saturday 6 April. But the World Boxing Council (WBC) is ready to block that fight.

In a move that exposes the absurdity of the political manoeuvring in top-flight boxing, WBC president Jose Sulaiman insisted that Lewis must defend their belt against Tyson before facing anyone else.

This is despite the fact that Tyson does not have a licence to box.

Lewis is now facing a dilemma.

If he goes ahead and fights Byrd, who is the mandatory challenger for his International Boxing Federation (IBF) title, he will almost certainly be stripped of the WBC belt.

But if Lewis waits to see if Tyson can get a licence, and any application process is likely to last into the spring, he could lose his IBF championship for not going into the ring against Byrd.

Sulaiman, whose sanctioning organisation has always looked kindly upon Tyson despite the fighter's outrageous behaviour, argued that a contest between Lewis and Byrd could not be recognised because it would go against the wishes of the WBC's board of governors.

He said: "At our annual convention in 2000 we rated Tyson the No 1 contender. There was a lot of discussion but it was a unanimous vote.

"During our annual convention of 2001 we ordered the mandatory defence. We knew both boxers wanted the fight."

Hope of matching Lewis with Tyson in Las Vegas on 6 April were dashed a fortnight ago when the Nevada State Athletic Commission refused to grant Tyson a licence.

Their decision followed him biting Lewis before launching into a foul-mouthed tirade during a press conference featuring the two men in New York.

Since then Tyson's management have been trying to find another American state willing to licence their man or another country willing to host a showdown with Lewis that would have been worth a record total purse of nearly £40 million.

Sulaiman said: "We did not say the fight should happen in any particular place, and when the promoters registered the fight with us they never mentioned the venue at all.

"I believe that Lewis owes himself the satisfaction of defeating Tyson to show the world he is a great champion."

Significantly, the WBC stands to receive a sanctioning fee of more than £1m if Lewis defends against Tyson.

With a much smaller purse being at stake in a fight against Byrd, the WBC's fee would be considerably less.

Meanwhile, Reading's Michael Sprott has hurried back from a holiday in Barbados in order to challenge Danny Williams of Brixton for the British heavyweight championship at York Hall, Bethnal Green, next Tuesday.

Sprott, a former ABA championship finalist, replaces mandatory challenger Keith Long who was forced to pull out of the fight through injury.