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Friday, May 4 NEW YORK – Hasim Rahman is still weighing offers for the first defense of his world heavyweight title and will announce next week whether he will fight Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis, his promoter said Friday. In either case, the bout is expected to be on Aug. 18, probably in Las Vegas, Cedric Kushner said. Kushner would not disclose the terms of the offers for Rahman's defense of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Council (WBC) titles he won when he knocked out Lewis in the fifth round last month in South Africa. "I hope to have (Rahman) come to New York today to discuss the proposals," Kushner said, adding that "there absolutely will not be any statement" Friday. "I presented the proposals early yesterday morning to Stan Hoffman, the manager of Hasim Rahman," Kushner said. "I don't tell the fighter what to do." Kathy Duva, the head of Lewis's U.S. promotion company Main Events, said Friday that Rahman would receive $10 million to $15 million for the first defense of his titles. Duva insists that Rahman is obliged under the terms of his contract with Lewis to give the Briton a return match before fighting anyone else. Kushner insists that Rahman can take an interim fight before giving Lewis a chance to win back his titles. But if Rahman decides to fight Tyson there is a possibility of litigation. Neither Duva nor Kushner would confirm a London newspaper report that Rahman had been offered $14 million to fight Lewis next and $15 million to take on Tyson. "We're very optimistic we're going to make the deal for Lewis," said Duva. The two main pay-per-view cable television companies, HBO and Showtime, are negotiating with Kushner to broadcast Rahman's next fight. HBO has Lewis under a long-term contract and Showtime is Tyson's cable network. The fighters' allegiances to rival broadcasters was the main reason why a Lewis-Tyson fight was not made when Lewis was the champion. Rahman has no ties to either broadcaster. Referring to HBO not signing him before he fought Lewis, Rahman was quoted earlier this week by his hometown newspaper, the Baltimore Sun, as saying "they had an arrogance about their fighter and now they have a hefty price to pay." The Baltimore Sun reported that promoter Don King had offered Rahman $15 million to fight King's man, John Ruiz, the holder of the World Boxing Association (WBA) title, who is considered a relatively minor championship these days. "If Don King doesn't comment on a situation he has no involvement in he doesn't sleep well," Kushner told Reuters. "It's none of his business and he doesn't need to put his two cents in." |