Lewis-Tyson Matchup Facing an Uphill Battle

“In this corner, the heavyweight champion of the world, Lennox L-e-e-wis. And in this corner, the challenger, Iron Mike T-y-y-son.”

Will we hear those words echoing across an arena in the next six months?

Or, indeed, ever?

And will they be spoken by Michael Buffer, the ring announcer identified with HBO? Or by Jimmy Lennon Jr., the familiar voice of Showtime? Each cable operation has a legal claim to one of the fighters.

Having easily disposed of David Tua on Saturday night with a dominating, unanimous decision at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, Lewis has only one money-making opponent on the horizon, Tyson, the two-time former champion.

Lewis says he’s ready to sign with Tyson right now.

After doing a little dancing in the ring Saturday night, a la Muhammad Ali, Lewis took a shot at another Ali specialty, poetry, after the fight, saying, “If Tyson wants to come to the test, I will put him to rest. Lennox Lewis is the best.”

Fortunately for Lewis, his ring skills are better than his poems.

Ross Greenburg, president of HBO Sports, which has a contract with Lewis, says the fight must be staged on his pay-per-view outlet. Jay Larkin, head of boxing at Showtime, which has Tyson under contract, says the match will only be fought in front of his cameras.

And Tyson?

The last thing he has said publicly is that he’s retired.

While nobody believes that, many believe that Tyson, who claims to be 5-feet-11 1/2 but is thought to be exaggerating by at least an inch, wants no part of the 6-5 Lewis.

And that was before Saturday night when Tua, 5-10, showed that a seven-inch height advantage for Lewis is too much to overcome, no matter how much power is packed into the shorter frame.

The last thing Tyson wants is to be embarrassed in the ring as was Tua.

Yes, Tyson embarrasses himself every time he opens his mouth. But embarrassment in the ring is all that concerns him.

Sources close to Tyson indicate that his first choice for a next opponent, once he ends his sham retirement, would be Evander Holyfield.

That’s logical.

Although Holyfield has beaten Tyson twice, including the infamous ear-biting bout in 1997, Holyfield looked as if age had finally caught up with him as the fighter, now 38, struggled to beat John Ruiz in his last bout.

Holyfield-Tyson III would still earn Tyson a huge payday. And while Tyson would be an underdog against Holyfield, his chance for victory would be better than it would be against Lewis.

“The Tyson people have not even claimed they want the fight,” Greenburg said. “Lennox Lewis would obviously love the fight.”

But would the public?

“The public,” Greenburg said, “wants to believe Mike Tyson is in a time capsule, that he’s still in 1986 and he is still exploding.”

But, Greenburg said, if it gets to a point where the fighters are both ready, his network may do a little exploding in its negotiations with Showtime.

“We are going into this with our missiles loaded,” he said. “We are going to plant our feet in the sand.”

While neither Greenburg nor Larkin is going to budge publicly before they have a chance to negotiate, Lou DiBella, who formerly negotiated fights for HBO, doesn’t think the cable deadlock will be a deal breaker.

“You can’t name one fight that didn’t happen because of TV,” DiBella said. “If both fighters want it to happen, an accommodation would be made.

“But I don’t believe the fight will happen. After what we just saw, watching Lewis dismantle Tua, why would Tyson want to fight Lewis?”