Lem Banker still insists first fight was fixed

Dean Juipe

Thursday, May 20, 1999 | 11:20 a.m.

For what it's worth, investigators with the Nevada Gaming Control Board have completed their inquiry into the betting patterns within the state toward the March 13 heavyweight title fight in New York between Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. The board announced that it found nothing out of the ordinary in a bout that was scored a draw despite the fact it appeared Lewis clearly won.

"They've got their heads in the sand," noted professional sports gambler Lem Banker of Las Vegas said Wednesday. "They don't know what's going on and they swept this under the rug because the fight wasn't held in Nevada and there were no Nevada judges."

Banker, in an exclusive Sun story March 19, said he believed the fight was fixed and that at least two of the judges -- Eugenia Williams and Larry O'Connell -- had been paid off to score the fight in Holyfield's favor as much as possible.

Despite that proclamation, and his accompanying assertion that "an unnatural amount of late money came in on Holyfield," Banker said the NGCB never approached him.

"I called them, though," he said. "I had to reach out to them and I told them to check it out because it appeared as if an organized betting coup came in late and put down some big money. It was a sophisticated group that synchronized its bets throughout Nevada and the (off-shore) islands and through illegal bookies."

Banker said he saw the lines for the fight move abnormally.

"Three weeks before the fight it was even and the Friday before the fight you could get Holyfield at plus 110," he said. "There had been quite a bit of money coming in on Lewis. Then Saturday, the day of the fight, everywhere I looked money was pouring in on Holyfield.

"We're talking lots of money here -- over $1 million in Las Vegas alone. Every hotel's line went up. Holyfield went to a minus 160 and to move the line that much takes a lot of money, especially when you consider the Lewis money that's countering it."

Asked if he still believes the fight was fixed, Banker said "I definitely think so." The Manhattan (N.Y.) district attorney has convened a grand jury to look into the fight, and the New York State Athletic Commission is still conducting its own investigation.

Banker said the NGCB could have checked videotapes of persons who made the bets and attempted to match them to airline identification checks to see if "messengers" were bringing money to Nevada to bet on Holyfield. Messenger betting is illegal in the state.

"They could have triple-checked video from the (sports) books and matched them with hotel registrations and the ID you have to show to buy an airline ticket," he said. "But they didn't do a thorough job. It was very Mickey Mouse."