Tyson Will Be No. 1 Contender Upon Release

Former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson will be the No. 1 contender for the World Boxing Council crown on his release from jail early next year, the WBC said Wednesday.

A statement issued at a Council meeting in Seville said that an “overwhelming majority” of the WBC board of governors had voted to reinstate Tyson as the No. 1 challenger.

Tyson, who was waiting for a title chance when jailed for rape in 1992, is due out of prison in Indiana next spring.

Tyson, seen as virtually invincible until dethroned by James (Buster) Douglas in 1990, would be expected to go through one warm-up fight before a new title challenge, WBC President Jose Sulaiman told reporters.