Columnist Dean Juipe: Lewis files lawsuit against Tyson

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Dec. 6, 2001 | 9:55 a.m.

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

Mike Tyson has decided to call Lennox Lewis' bluff.

Lewis, via his attorneys, has filed suit in New York City in an attempt to block Tyson from fighting Ray Mercer Jan. 19 in Atlantic City on the grounds that if Tyson lost or is hurt it would jeopardize a loosely planned Lewis vs. Tyson fight that is tentative for this spring in Las Vegas.

Lewis' suit seems absurd on the surface, so Tyson replied in kind.

"Lennox, if you want me, we can fight on Jan. 19," Tyson said in a statement e-mailed Wednesday to the Sun by one of his own attorneys, Scott Miranda. "I'm sure Ray Mercer would rather fight me for the heavyweight crown after I finished you off."

As a stratagem, Tyson's position is both whimsical and effective. He knows Lewis can't turn around that quickly, having just fought Hasim Rahman last month, and he has put the onus on the IBF and WBC champion to step forward and fight or allow Tyson this interim fight with Mercer.

"I'm outraged by Lennox's attempt to interfere with my career," Tyson also said in his statement.

A night earlier, on a Fox Sports Net show hosted by Jim Rome, Lewis didn't mention his impending lawsuit but certainly showed an interest in fighting Tyson.

"Things are still being worked out," he said. "It's really all in Tyson's hands now ... that's the big-money fight out there."

Lewis even admitted he could lose the fight, saying "Although he's a shadow of what he used to be, he still throws a hell of a punch and if my chin's anywhere around when he's throwing that punch, he can definitely knock me out."

Two Las Vegas casinos have posted betting lines on the proposed fight. Caesars Palace lists Lewis as a minus 180 favorite and Tyson at a plus 140. At Station Casinos, Lewis is minus 200 and Tyson is plus 160.

A Lewis vs. Tyson fight is said to be worth as much as $20 million to each man.

Heavyweights David Tua vs. Garing Lane, plus super bantamweights Wayne McCullough vs. Alvin Brown, are on for Dec. 19 in Oroville, Calif. "I shouldn't have any problem with him, but it's been a long time since I've fought," said McCullough, a former world champion from Las Vegas who is 23-3. "I feel good and I've got my confidence back. I feel I've got a punch." ... Local featherweight Augie Sanchez, 27-2, was dropped from the Jan. 12 card at the Cox Pavilion and will, instead, fight John Michael Johnson at Fantasy Springs, Calif., on Friday.

Police were called and heavyweight Derrick Jefferson was arrested last Thursday in Reno after he punched upcoming opponent Marcellus Brown at the Reno Hilton. Jefferson, of Detroit, and Brown, of Las Vegas, were scheduled to fight last Friday until the unscripted fisticuffs led to the bout being cancelled and Jefferson jailed for 14 hours. Trash talk allegedly led to the incident, which undoubtedly will also be reviewed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. ... Oleg Maskaev won the heavyweight main event at the Reno Hilton last Friday, stopping David Vedder at 1:59 of the sixth round.

Top Rank's Sunday series on Univision is over and will be replaced by two-hour Friday shows on the Spanish network Telefutura beginning Jan. 18 in West Wendover. ... Willie Stewart won last Saturday's super middleweight main event with Vitaliy Kopytko at the Stardust, a result that didn't make it into everyone's Sunday paper. Stewart, 16-0, "looked good but didn't go for the kill," said promoter James Pollins. "A couple of times I thought he could have taken Kopytko out, but he didn't." Pollins returns Jan. 25 at the Stardust and may use local middleweight prospect Julio Garcia in his main event. As for the success of his first show, which drew around 900 fans, Pollins said "I thought everything went all right. I know a few little things have to be worked out, but everyone seemed to enjoy it."