A U.S. federal judge has stripped heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis of his World Boxing Association (WBA) title on Wednesday for agreeing to fight Michael Grant instead of the higher-ranked John Ruiz. Judge Lewis Kaplan's ruling in New York is not likely to affect the 29th April Lewis-Grant fight at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Lewis, who won the undisputed heavyweight titles from Evander Holyfield last November, still holds the World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation titles. The court ruling means that the 10th June fight between Holyfield and Ruiz will be for the vacant WBA title. It also means that promoter Don King is back in the heavyweight picture because he promotes both Holyfield and Ruiz.
Lewis's camp said it plans on appealing the judge's ruling. Last month before Kaplan, King accused Lewis of reneging on a contract that called for the winner of Lewis-Holyfield to fight the WBA's number-one contender.
The WBA had sanctioned Lewis-Grant. But King said that was a violation of its own rules for mandatory defences. Grant (31-0) is the WBA's number 5 contender. Ironically, it was Lewis (35-1-1) who had initiated the court case in a bid to have his deal with King overturned. Lewis claimed that King had coerced him into signing a fraudulent contract to fight then number-one contender Henry Akinwande or the leading "available contender" even though King knew that Akinwande was suffering from Hepatitis B and not likely to fight any time soon.
Lewis's lawyers later went to court seeking dismissal of their suit. But the cagey King fought that move and once again became a player in lucrative heavyweight title fights. Last month Lewis withstood a bid by IBF number-one contender David Tua for an injunction to halt the Lewis-Grant bout on the grounds that Tua should be Lewis's mandatory next opponent instead of Grant.
Lewis, in a statement released by his U.S. promoter Main Events said, "My bout against Michael Grant, the man most considered to be the best heavyweight contender available, will proceed. While we will obey the court's ruling, I have also instructed my attorneys to file an appeal of this decision, which I consider to be dead wrong". Lewis will receive about $10 million to fight Grant, who will get about $4 million.
