Boxing: Britain's Lennox Lewis will not be defending his World Boxing Council crown when he fights Canada's Kirk Johnson in Los Angeles on June 21st and Mike Tyson is not yet signed to fight on the same heavyweight card.

Those details were revealed yesterday when promoters announced the fight card to be conducted at Staples Centre, a venue secured in part because California agreed to provide Tyson with a licence to fight.

Tyson is expected to fight Oleg Maskaev of Kazakhstan but has not yet signed a contract for the fight, promoter Gary Shaw said.

"We just haven't completed a deal for Mike to fight on this card, but we are cautiously optimistic," Shaw said.

Lewis was not worried about Tyson, 50-4 with 44 knockouts. His addition on the card could mean tens of millions of dollars in pay-per-view sales.

"Were optimistic about it. I'm not really worried about that right now," said Lewis. "I'm the champion. With Tyson on the card, it's an added bonus."

The WBC had threatened to strip Lewis of his crown if he did not face Vitali Klitschko, the top-ranked challenger from Ukraine, or Tyson, who said he needed more fights before a rematch with the man who knocked him out last June. The WBC will not sanction the fight.

The only true crown at stake for Lewis is the "linear" title, going to the man who beat the prior champion in the ring, regardless of sanctioning body decisions. That's the biggest belt out there," Lewis said.

Adrian Ogun, Lewis's manager, said if Lewis beats Johnson, talks are set to begin in July for a bout with Klitschko. Ogun blamed Klitschko's promoter for their $4 million offer to the fighter being rejected. "We believe there is a problem there," Ogun said. "We believe the problem will be resolved. We will start negotiations in the first of July."

Asked if that meant Lewis would fight Klitschko next, Ogun replied, "We will uphold their (WBC) rules", which could leave open the door for a Tyson fight.