Title Fight In Doubt

Promoter Don King said that Mike Tyson might not defend his WBC heavyweight championship in a proposed bout with WBA champ Bruce Seldon in July.

“We would be willing to fight without the WBC title at stake, since this is the argument of Lennox Lewis,” King said.

Last month, a Passiac County (N.J.) court judge ruled that Tyson must fight Lewis next after winning the WBC crown from Frank Bruno six weeks ago.

Lewis argued that by sanctioning the Tyson-Bruno fight, the WBC was ignoring it’s own ruling that he should fight for the title after having beaten Lionel Butler in an title elimination bout nearly 12 months ago

But now, King said, if Lewis allows the Tyson-Seldon fight, he would finally get his title shot regardless of the outcome.

A federal court has refused to hear an appeal from Francois Botha, who was stripped of his IBF heavyweight title in March after being disqualified for flunking a steroid test.

The ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit removed the final legal obstacle to a heavyweight title bout between Michael Moorer and Axel Schulz, who lost to Botha in December.

Botha had won on a controversial split decision over Schulz for the vacant IBF title Dec. 9, 1995, in Stuttgart, Germany, but tested positive for a steroid after the bout.