NIGEL BENN declined to appear before the British Boxing Board of Control yesterday over a night club incident in London. But he is unlikely to face any action because he confirmed his retirement after Saturday's defeat by Steve Collins.

The Board admitted yesterday they no longer have jurisdiction over Benn, whose corner pulled him out of a WBO super-middleweight title return at the end of the sixth round.

The night club incident involved the 32-year-old fighter and an alleged assault, but there has been no police prosecution.

General secretary John Morris said: "The Board called Nigel Benn to today's meeting for an interview. No changes have been laid against him.

"The Board wanted to hear what happened because, clearly, an incident of some sort occurred.

"The Board have been notified by Nigel Benn that he declines to appear as he is no longer a licence holder. He has informed us that no legal proceedings have been issued and he has been advised not to appear before any tribunal."

Morris added it was likely that the Board would now "watch the situation".

Benn would almost certainly be asked to appear again if he wanted to return to boxing in another capacity as a manager or trainer.

. Boxing in recent years has not been a favourite of many corporate sponsors, but just days after one of the biggest nights of the sport when Evander Holyfield upset Mike Tyson a clothing manufacturer introduced one of the sport's top trainers as its spokesman in New York yesterday.

Teddy Atlas, who very early in his career trained a young Tyson and last Saturday guided Michael Moorer on the Holyfield-Tyson card to successfully retain his International Boxing Federation title against South African Francois Botha, now is a spokesman for a new line of Everlast clothing.