NEW YORK: Don King the promoter for former heavyweight title-holder Mike Tyson on Tuesday said he and Tyson are ready to negotiate to fight champion Evander Holyfield in the fall.
Holyfield and his promoters said after his victory over George Foreman on Friday night they wanted Tyson next but claimed King and Tyson did not want the bout
“I want to expose to the light that Don King is not going to be an obstacle” King said. “Tyson wants to fight Evader Holyfield I want to fight Evader Holyfield we are ready to fight. There are no encumbrances at all.
“I want the fight to get on I don’t want politics to get in the way”.
Tyson is scheduled to fight a June 28 rematch against Razor Ruddock but King said he would be able to battle Holyfield in October when Holyfield’s promoter say they want his next fight Duva and Finkel say King does not want the fight because a Tyson loss would put the promoter outof the heavyweight division.
“King is ready willing and able to talk to them and do this fight” King said.
“We’re ready to fight winner take-all or option two which is to take $2.5 million out of each fighter’s purse and $5 million goes to the winner or option three $5 million from the promotion goes to a charity picked by the winner.”
If Holyfield does not like any of those options King said Tyson would take roughly $5 million less than the champion. Duva says he wants Holyfield to get two thirds of the total purse and Tyson
“We don’t care about Holyfield getting more money” King said. “I got no problem with Holyfield getting $5 million or $6 million more than Tyson.”
He forecasted a payday of $25 million for Holyfield and $20 million for Tyson. Holyfield’s promoters would ask for $30 million for the champion and $15 million for Tyson. Holyfield was guaranteed $20 million for his defense against Foreman.
Duva said he wants two thirds for the champion because that was the split Tyson and Holyfield agreed to when Tyson was champion and they signed for a June 1990 bout.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 17, 1991
