Tyson Reportedly Wants to Fire King

Mike Tyson, apparently angry after discovering he doesn’t have much of the more than $100 million he earned since leaving prison nearly three years ago, is trying to dump Don King as his promoter.

“At the present time I have taken control of my own affairs, both personal and business,” Tyson said in a statement released by a Hollywood celebrity manager Wednesday afternoon. “I have hired new attorneys and accountants who report directly to me. I have formed Mike Tyson Enterprises, and I am in the process of moving forward with my life.”

The statement, released by Jeff Wald of Los Angeles, did not address reports that Tyson had severed ties with King and his two co-managers, John Horne and Rory Holloway.

Wald and his partner, Irving Azoff, promoted the last two George Foreman fights.

Tyson also allegedly confronted King on Saturday in Los Angeles and slapped and kicked him, the New York Post reported.

Tyson is scheduled to attend a news conference today in New York about an upcoming appearance for the World Wrestling Federation. It was not known whether King would attend.

Elias Ghanem, chairman of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, said he is also concerned about published reports that Tyson may owe as much as $7 million in taxes.

“Any time somebody has a tax problem, usually the IRS would put a lien on his purse before he gets in the ring,” Ghanem said. “That would be an issue. We don’t like to get involved in that.”

The New York Daily News reported that Los Angeles attorney John Branca had been hired by Tyson and had sent “termination” letters to Horne and Holloway last Thursday.

“I love Mike and he knows it,” King said in a statement. “But there are often outside forces and individuals that will try to capitalize on Mike’s frustration that comes from his layoff as a result of the suspension.”

Holloway and Horne said in a joint statement that “there is sometimes a frustration and misunderstanding that can occur in the best of friendships and business relationships, and that’s how we categorize this.”

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Roy Jones has backed out of a scheduled May 2 fight against Buster Douglas.

Jones, 27 and a champion in three weight classes was to have received $6 million to face the former heavyweight champion in Atlantic City, N.J.

Baseball

Jose Canseco, who has a history of hitting long home runs in the SkyDome, agreed to a one-year contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Canseco, 33, will get a base salary of about $750,000 and the chance to earn $2.25 million in performance bonuses. The injury-prone outfielder and designated hitter made $4,725,000 last season with Oakland, hitting 23 homers and batting .235 with 74 RBIs.

The Angels have expressed an interest in signing pitcher Jack McDowell, the free-agent right-hander who is trying to rebound from elbow surgery that sidelined him for most of 1997.

McDowell, 32, went 3-3 with a 5.09 earned-run average in eight games for the Cleveland Indians before undergoing season-ending surgery to remove loose tissues on May 20.

Football

Minnesota Viking President Roger Headrick told the Midwest Sports Channel that he will not allow author Tom Clancy to buy the team.

“I don’t know what Clancy’s offer is, but I’m matching it,” Headrick said.

Headrick said that under partnership agreements, the Vikings’ bylaws allow any of the 10 current owners to match any offer made for the team.

He said any dispute over his rights to buy the team would be ruled on by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

The NFL players’ union has formally notified the league it will allow its current labor agreement to expire at the end of the 2000 season rather than extend it another two years.

Joe Browne, an NFL spokesman, said team owners would “consider the status” of the labor agreement at a league meeting Feb. 18 in Dallas.

Gil Haskell, a former offensive assistant with the Green Bay Packers, was hired by the Carolina Panthers as offensive coordinator. The Panthers also released defensive end Ray Seals and linebacker Renaldo Turnbull.

Tennis

Top-ranked Pete Sampras said he will not play the United States’ opening-round Davis Cup matches against Russia, April 3-5, in Stone Mountain, Ga.

Sampras said the calf injury he suffered during the 5-0 loss to Sweden in last December’s Davis Cup final played a role in his decision.

Sweden’s Magnus Gustafsson upset third-seeded Sergi Bruguera of Spain, 6-3, 6-4, in second-round play at the Marseille, France, indoor tournament.

Soccer

Forward Juergen Klinsmann, the captain of Germany’s national team, reportedly fractured his jaw and will sit out the rest of the German league season. Klinsmann, 33, previously said he intended to retire after the season.

D.C. United forward Raul Diaz Arce, a Salvadoran star and Major League Soccer’s all-time leading goal-scorer, was traded to the New England Revolution in a three-team deal that sent defender Alexi Lalas, 27, to the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. The MetroStars sent a 1999 second-round draft pick and future considerations to D.C. United.

Miscellany

Mayor Willie Brown promises San Francisco won’t pay another dime more than the $100-million bond issue voters approved in June for the stadium and shopping complex for a new stadium for the 49ers, despite projections showing the cost could exceed original estimates by $175 million.

Christine Arron of France missed the women’s world 100-meter indoor record by three-hundredths of a second when she was timed in 11.18 seconds in a meet at Tampere, Finland.

Robert Mulcahy is leaving as the chief executive of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to become athletic director at Rutgers.

UCLA men’s volleyball team improved its records to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the Pacific 10 with a 13-15, 15-3, 15-9, 15-9 victory over USC (2-6, 1-5) at Pauley Pavilion.