Tyson evades Lewis again

Lennox Lewis, who accepted $4m (pounds 2.5m) for shelving his legal right to be Mike Tyson's next opponent, may have been outsmarted again.

The probability now is that if Tyson takes the World Boxing Organisation heavyweight title from Bruce Seldon in Las Vegas on 9 July, he will defend it against Evander Holyfield next October after giving up the World Boxing Council title for which Lewis is the mandatory challenger.

If the title becomes vacant Lewis's most likely opponent is Oliver McCall, who gained it from him at Wembley 20 months ago and then lost it to Frank Bruno. A contest between Tyson and Holyfield is bound to cause misgivings. Holyfield appears a spent force whose immense will could result in him taking a terrible beating.