Dan Duva

NEW YORK -- The Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson fight officially has been knocked out for January by a combination of Tyson's sore ribs, Holyfield's cold feet, the World Wrestling Federation and a horde of Las Vegas conventioneers.That, in a nutshell, is why the fate of the Holyfield-Tyson fight rests in the hands of an Indianapolis jury -- unless Tyson's legal team can find a way to get his rape trial pushed back from its scheduled Jan. 27 starting date.After several hours of heated meetings at the Manhattan offices of Home Box Office, all parties -- Holyfield promoter Dan Duva and manager Shelly Finkel, Don King and his lawyer, Bob Hirth, and executives of TVKO and Caesars Palace -- agreed to disagree on a suitable January date for the fight, which was postponed from its original Nov. 8 date because of a rib injury suffered by Tyson.

Fight promoter Don King was operating on two fronts yesterday, trying to revive the Mike Tyson-Donovan "Razor" Ruddock bout scheduled for Las Vegas June 28, while opening negotiations with representatives of heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield for a title match with Tyson in late October or early November.According to King spokesman Al Braverman, the promoter met at the office of his New York attorney, Bob Hirth, with Holyfield's promoter, Dan Duva, and the boxer's financial adviser, Shelly Finkel, and his attorney, Pat English.

Just 24 hours after putting injured Mike Tyson on hold, heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield's advisers have offered a late November title fight to unranked Francesco Damiani, of Italy, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.As of last night, Damiani had not accepted the offer from Holyfield's promoter, Dan Duva. Damiani (27-1, 23 KOs) has been idle since losing his World Boxing Organization crown to Ray Mercer in Atlantic City last January.Holyfield pushed for a championship match next month after his scheduled Nov. 8 showdown with Tyson was postponed indefinitely when the former champion suffered a rib injury in training, Oct. 8.Efforts to reschedule the $100 million fight before Tyson's pending Jan. 27 trial in Indianapolis for alleged rape of an 18-year-old beauty pageant contestant proved futile.

The way has been cleared for the hotly anticipated heavyweight showdown between undisputed champion Evander Holyfield and former champion Mike Tyson, but representatives of both fighters remain suspicious of each other's motives in negotiating a settlement that would lead to a title match by early fall.Holyfield's camp was especially skeptical about the sudden cancellation of Tyson's rematch with Donovan "Razor" Ruddock, which had been scheduled for June 28 at The Mirage in Las Vegas.Ruddock reportedly stepped aside after being paid $1 million by promoter Don King to allow Tyson to make Holyfield his next opponent.

WASHINGTON -- A former Mafia capo and an FBI informer accused current International Boxing Federation president Bob Lee of accepting a $3,000 bribe in 1981 to win approval of a promoter's license for a reputed drug dealer, spicing the final day of testimony at a Senate subcommittee's investigation into corruption in professional boxing.Promoter Don King was also linked to four Mafia crime families, helping to strengthen support for the proposed bill by Sen. Bill Roth, R-Del., to create a national board to standardize boxing regulations and investigate allegations of misconduct and corruption.

The breach between heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe, of Fort Washington, Md., and principal title challenger Lennox Lewis broadened yesterday when Bowe, in a symbolic gesture, discarded his World Boxing Council championship belt in a trash bin while attending a sports award banquet in London, where Lewis resides."

King back in business, wins Lewis-Tucker bidNEW YORK -- Promoter Don King, forced to take a back seat in boxing's power structure since the jailing of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, was back in the spotlight yesterday after winning the purse bid for the Lennox Lewis-Tony Tucker World Boxing Council heavyweight match.King outbid rival Dan Duva, of Main Events, Inc., in paying $12.16 million for the fight, only a reported $20,000 more than Duva's proposal.King already has struck a deal with Steve Wynn, operator of The Mirage Hotel, to stage the bout May 8 at The Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, where Riddick Bowe dethroned then-undisputed champion Evander Holyfield last November.

NEW YORK -- Even in boxing, the inevitable sometimes happens, so put it down for the fall, late September or November, somewhere in Las Vegas. Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson. Anything else you read on the subject is just the hucksters haggling over the price.The two sides -- Dan Duva and Shelly Finkel for the champion, Don King for Tyson -- have yet to meet face to face, but already they have moved closer.King started by demanding parity, 50-50. Holyfield is insisting on two-thirds, one-third.

There will be a decided left-handed slant on things when undefeated Michael Moorer challenges Evander Holyfield for his International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Association heavyweight titles April 22 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.No left-handed fighter has ever reigned as heavyweight king. Las Vegas oddsmakers have established Holyfield as an early 2-1 favorite.It has been 18 years since a left-handed fighter, England's Richard Dunn, challenged then-champion Muhammad Ali. Dunn lasted only five rounds.

There has been lively bidding for a shot at Evander Holyfield's heavyweight title. Larry Holmes appeared to be the big winner yesterday, and Riddick Bowe a heavy loser.A formal announcement will likely come Monday, but a Holyfield-Holmes championship match now appears a certainty for Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in May, according to Shelly Finkel, Holyfield's chief financial adviser.Finkel and Dan Duva will meet with Holyfield in Miami this weekend to reach agreement on the details. Holyfield will be guaranteed $21 million and Holmes, a former champ, an estimated $10 million from TVKO, which holds pay-per-view rights.