Deon Potgieter boxing
There has been an early indicator to which way the Hassim Rahman camp will lean
in the debate over whom he should defend his newly won universal heavyweight
world title against.
The main contenders are a rematch against Lennox Lewis, who has a television
contract with HBO, or Mike Tyson, who has a contract with Showtime. And the bottom line in boxing is money. After all it is a business.
Lehlohonolo Ledwaba, who shares the same promoters as Rahman, will be making the
sixth defence of his International Boxing Federation junior-featherweight world
title on the under-card of the World Boxing Council (WBC) junior-middleweight
title bout between golden boy Oscar De La Hoya and Javier Castillejo on June 23.
Both bouts will be screened by HBO _ indicating which way Rahman might go on his
first title defence.
The willingness of the American television giant to give Ledwaba another showing
after his performance on the Carnival City under-card bodes well for the champion.
While both HBO and Showtime have offered Rahman more than $150-million to face
their respective heavyweight interests, HBO has also included a guarantee that
if Rahman were to lose to Lewis it would still cover his next three fights. Showtime was only willing to offer the champion a one-fight deal.
Realising that his chances of getting the bout is losing ground, Tyson has sought the help of the American courts to force the WBC to order Rahman to defend against him first. Tyson is the WBC_s number one contender.
So committed is Showtime to its attempt to get the heavyweight title, it has
indefinitely postponed Tysona_s next bout, which was to have taken place next
month against David Izon.
If the WBC bows to Tyson_s law suit, Rahman may be stripped of that version of
the title if he goes ahead with a Lewis fight first.
If this happens and Tyson were then to win the WBC title, a bout against the
winner of the Rahman-Lewis rematch would still be able to happen only if an agreement could be reached between HBO and Showtime.
What would, however, become possible is a Tyson bout against the winner of the
upcoming World Boxing Association (WBA) clash between John Ruiz and Evander Holyfield.
A Tyson-Holyfield III bout could arguably be bigger than Tyson against either
Rahman or Lewis.
Don King, who promotes both Ruiz and Holyfield, has thrown in an offer for Rahman to face Ruiz.
King is also rumoured to be making offers to some of the other big-name fighters
in the Golden Gloves stable, perhaps an indicator that he perceives the ever-
growing promotional team headed by Rodney Berman as a threat to his declining
status as one of the most powerful promoters in the world.
If and when the Rahman-Lewis rematch deal is signed, it_s unlikely that it will
take place in South Africa. Staging a bout of this calibre will be far more lucrative if it were held in a resort in the United States.