Columnist Dean Juipe: Let Nigeria win bid on Tyson fight

Dean Juipe

Friday, Feb. 15, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

The daily ritual of charting which cities and which states are flirting with the issue of hosting the Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis fight has gotten to be very tiresome.

One day it's Los Angeles. The next, LA is out and Fort Worth is in. The next, Fort Worth is out and Atlanta is in. And so on, with no real end in sight.

As the cycle continues, it becomes nothing but a waste of newsprint.

But someone sooner or later is going to put together a deal that even Tyson can't refuse, and the phone call I received Thursday from former Las Vegas resident (and Top Rank vice president) Akbar Muhammad makes me hope that he's the guy.

Now based in Charlotte, Muhammad has been retained by the country of Nigeria for the express purpose of bringing Tyson vs. Lewis there. He thinks it's a great idea and I do too, in part because I don't believe the fight should be held in the United States after Nevada tried to lead by example with its decision to not license the menacing former champion.

"It's the perfect scenario," Muhammad said. "There's an intrigue with taking the fight overseas and Nigeria is in a great situation. It can create the necessary magic; it's a solid country with a great relationship with the United States; it can and will provide a 100,000-seat stadium; and the people there are serious about this.

"I met with them last week in New York and I know the money's there. I have the right number."

He said that negotiations with the principals are ongoing and that a deal can be struck "within the next two weeks."

Nigeria would become an even more practical option for the fight in the event the Clark Country district attorney's office elects to file sexual-assault charges against Tyson. It has been weighing that possibility for a couple of weeks after police recommended that charges be filed following an investigation into a rape allegation (that was compounded when a second complainant came forward).

If those charges are filed, more states will be reluctant to license Tyson and bid on the proposed fight; it can even be argued that D.A. Stewart Bell would be doing Nevada a favor by bringing the charges.

As for concerns that Tyson would be a flight risk if charges were filed, Bell has made it clear that he thinks there's no risk at all because of Tyson's visibility. Tyson could renew his passport and fight outside the country without any interference from the legal community.

Exiling him to Nigeria would be just dandy with me.

"It would also bring a major event to Africa and would be bigger than Ali vs. Foreman," Muhammad said, referring to an Oct. 20, 1974 fight in Zaire that matched a pair of legendary champions and resulted in Ali inventing his rope-a-dope strategy before winning by eighth-round knockout.

If it comes off, Tyson vs. Lewis will be big and a few "rogue" states remain interested in hosting it. But for the good of a boxing industry that sorely lacks unity, the best outcome would be one in which all other states follow Nevada's lead and prohibit Tyson from fighting.

Nigeria has the solution, and it's one that leaves everyone happy.