BOXING: South Korea, the co-host of the 2002 football World Cup, is likely to stage Mike Tyson's heavyweight showdown with world champion Lennox Lewis, a Korean official said yesterday.
"It is almost certain that Seoul will be chosen as the venue for the bout between Tyson and Lewis," the Korea Boxing Committee official said. The official, who did not want to be named, said four other countries have applied to stage the event: the Bahamas, Greece, Morocco and Mexico.
"(South Korean promoters) have already deposited a sum of $50 million in prize money for the bout with a bank," he said.
Although Tyson wants to hold the bout in Washington DC, he is likely to change his mind, and the World Boxing Council (WBC) is likely to make a final decision in favour of Seoul today, he said.
The District of Columbia Boxing and Wrestling Commission was holding a hearing last night on whether to grant Tyson a licence to fight the British champion in the US capital on June 8th.
Meanwhile, president of the Boxing Union of Ireland Mel Christle said yesterday he had heard nothing about the idea floated by a Dubai businessman that the Tyson-Lewis bout might be staged in Ireland. According to claims on news wire reports, a businessman has raised $13.5 million and proposes to stage the fight in Croke Park.
"I have heard nothing about it. I'd say it was the sort of idea thought up in a Dublin bar at 11.45 p.m. last night," said Christle yesterday evening. "I would have expected to hear of such a thing by fax or email but I've heard absolutely nothing at all."
