Agreement finalized on Tyson-Lewis fight

Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson will meet June 8 in Memphis for the heavyweight championship, under a deal wrapped up Monday night after weeks of on-again off-again negotiations.

Promoters were set to formally announced the agreement, which was finalized just before a deadline by the International Boxing Federation. Showtime cable network spokeswoman Marina Capurro confirmed the fight was on.

The major stumbling block -- a $12.5 million site fee -- reportedly had been resolved earlier in the day but some details were still pending.

Among those details was an agreement from the champion himself that he would fight Tyson on the new date and location. Lewis reportedly agreed orally, but fight promoters were waiting for his signature before announcing the bout.

"That's part of it," Tyson adviser Shelly Finkel said.

Production representatives of the HBO and Showtime networks were in Memphis on Monday to tour the Pyramid arena in advance of the pay-per-view telecast. But arena general manager Alan Freeman said he had no signed contract to host the fight.

"Nobody's told me anything," Freeman said.

The fight originally was going to be April 6 in Las Vegas, but Nevada boxing authorities refused to give Tyson a boxing license after an outburst at a January press conference.

The much-shopped fight had to be resolved by Monday or the IBF was going to order Lewis to fight No. 1 challenger Chris Byrd instead of Tyson.

Promoters were nearing other deadlines where cable television contracts and other arrangements had to be made or the fight would be called off.

Promoters had hoped to announce a deal last week, but plans fell apart after local promoters in Memphis failed to come up with the site fee from a local bank.

Tyson and Lewis each are reportedly guaranteed $17.5 million to fight for the IBF and WBC titles Lewis holds, and could earn millions more if the fight grabs the attention of the public.

Promoters also stand to make a bundle, with projections that the fight could gross $100 million from the site fee and pay-per-view sales.

But the fight is already inching past the date when advertising and pay-per-view plans have to be in place if it is going to be held June 8.

HBO and Showtime are broadcasting it in an unusual joint effort and executives from both networks have reportedly been involved in the latest negotiations.