Staples Card Takes Blow

The June 21 heavyweight doubleheader at Staples Center, beset with problems ranging from unwilling opponents to overpriced seats to an apathetic public, may have sustained a knockout blow Friday. Kirk Johnson, the third choice as the challenger to heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, partially tore a chest muscle in a sparring session and is off the card.

Late Friday night, Lewis and his trainer, Emanuel Steward, were huddled at the champion’s training headquarters in Pennsylvania’s Pocono mountains, looking over a list of the top dozen heavyweights, searching for a last-minute substitute.

Even if a suitable opponent can be found and signed on two weeks’ notice, the credibility of this match, battered with Johnson as the opponent, may now be beyond repair. Ringside seats, priced at $950, were already an extremely tough sell. If Lewis decides to go ahead against a no-name opponent, drastic price reductions will be required.

And that, in turn, would require a reduction in the $3.4-million site fee being paid by Staples Center.

All of which may not leave enough money to satisfy Lewis.

The best option for Lewis, Vitali Klitschko, is already on the card, fighting in the semi-main event against Cedric Boswell.

The logical move would be to scratch that match and pair Klitschko against Lewis. But that won’t happen because Lewis and Klitschko are already set to fight on pay-per-view on Dec. 6, assuming neither loses in the interim.

The Staples Center show, deemed unworthy of pay-per-view, was scheduled for HBO. Promoters wouldn’t forfeit the pay-per-view earning potential by putting Lewis-Klitschko on HBO. And two weeks is not enough time to properly promote a pay-per-view broadcast.

Dino Duva, Johnson’s promoter, would like to see his fighter remain the opponent with the fight moved to late August or early September.

Johnson’s injury, a partially torn pectoral muscle on the left side of his chest, will be healed in about four to six weeks, according to Duva.

Johnson suffered the injury when he threw a left hook Tuesday in a sparring session at a Fort Worth gym.

For Lewis, recognized as the bona-fide heavyweight champion regardless of which belt he holds or doesn’t hold, getting back into the ring has proved more difficult than fighting in the ring.

After knocking out Mike Tyson last June, Lewis had a contract for a rematch this month. But Tyson refused to fight, saying he wasn’t ready.

So on to Plan B and Klitschko. But negotiations between Lewis and Klitschko broke down over money and broadcast rights.

So on to Plan C and Johnson.

Who might figure in Plan D?

International Boxing Federation champion Chris Byrd would want a pay-per-view show, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali’s brother, is coming off a loss, David Tua already lost to Lewis as did Hasim Rahman, and Roy Jones is tentatively scheduled to fight Evander Holyfield.

That leaves second-tier fighters John Ruiz, Corrie Sanders, Fres Oquendo or Lamon Brewster.