MORE ON IZON-RAHMAN DEAL - Was Nielsen ever IN?
Total Action
IZON SIGNS WITH KING; HE'S NEXT SCHEDULED FOE FOR RAHMAN
Nielsen is out - but was he ever in?
By CHARLES JAY, Editor/Publisher, TotalAction.com
"I'm delighted to sign a heavyweight who had been scheduled to fight Mike
Tyson on three separate occasions," Don King said. "I'm glad he came to see
me because now I intend to make his dreams come true."
And how!
David Izon of Nigeria inked a promotional contract with Don King Productions
Tuesday and has been installed as the next scheduled opponent for
heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman.
TOTAL ACTION has learned that Izon will receive a purse of roughly $800,000,
and that the fight will take place on the August 4 card in Japan on which
the WBA heavyweight crown will also be contested between Evander Holyfield
and John Ruiz.
Upon Rahman signing a promotional deal with King on May 11, it was
tentatively announced that Rahman would be defending his title against
Denmark's Brian Nielsen on the August 4 China card, and would be earning a
purse of $5 million for his efforts.
"The fight with Nielsen isn't agreed on yet, but it's good shot to happen,"
Stan Hoffman, Rahman's co-manager, said at the time.
All plans for Rahman's heavyweight title future had to be more or less
penciled in because of the crossfire of lawsuits that were filed subsequent
to Rahman's deal with King, and which will be heard starting June 11 in New
York.
But questions arise as to how close we ever really were to seeing a
Rahman-Nielsen fight. Robert Mittleman, the agent/opportunist who formerly
managed Rahman and met with him frequently as the new champ's was trying to
formulate his plans, had been given an chance by King to broker a title shot
for Nielsen, a fighter signed to one of his clients, controversial Danish
promoter Mogens Palle.
While Mittleman was apparently handling things, Palle himself never heard
from King, and never received a contract. With television arrangements
rather uncertain for the August 4 card, Nielsen may have been too pricey, as
according to one source, Nielsen was interested in as much as $1.5 million,
plus the Danish TV rights.
"Palle is generally regarded as being a problem to deal with, and that may
have factored in to it," said one boxing insider, who has had experience
dealing with both parties. "In the event Rahman got beat, King wouldn't have
had the kind of control with Nielsen as he will with Izon."
Indeed, Izon (formerly known by his given name of Izonritei) has not just
signed for options - he has signed an exclusive deal with King. Terms were
not disclosed by DKP, but should he beat Rahman, and a rematch be required,
King would most likely be in a much more favorable position with Izon as he
would with the Dane.
With this latest maneuver, King also effectively knocks out Tyson's next
prospective opponent. Even though Tyson's people had postponed the Izon
fight while the current heavyweight drama played itself out, there was still
the possibility of rescheduling the bout, and airing it on Showtime. That
plan is now a distant memory.
Ironically, several people in Lennox Lewis' camp had preferred Izon as the
most recent championship opponent for the then-heavyweight champion, but
trainer Emanuel Steward had a preference for Rahman, who, with his
fifth-round KO in South Africa, has set off a firestorm of events that has
not been seen in the heavyweight division for quite some time.
More irony - this quotation came from a story written by St. Clair Murraine
in the Tallahassee Democrat on May 14 - "With all of these options for
Rahman, a fighter whose future was on the ropes before he stunned Lewis,
contenders like Izon might get their lucky shot too if they keep the faith."
Prophetic.
Of course, in a courtroom on June 11, everything could change again.
And the beat goes on, doesn't it?
Total Action
CJ
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