HOLYFIELD EYES FIGHT IN SOUTH AFRICA; IS LEWIS BOUT DEAD?

          Don King is seeing "'how much interest' there would be
     on the part of the South African government and pay-per-view
     interests" in an Evander Holyfield-Francois Botha fight,
     according to Jeff Schultz of the ATLANTA CONSTITUTION. 
     Holyfield's attorney Jim Thomas also dismissed the "notion
     that it was Holyfield who withdrew from a possible fight"
     with Lennox Lewis.  Thomas acknowledged that Holyfield "felt
     bound by a commitment" to Showtime before fighting Michael
     Moorer.  Thomas, asked why Holyfield demanded $20M to fight
     Lewis: "Evander told the people at Showtime that he would
     not fight a title unification for less than $20 million. 
     When the [Moorer] fight performed less than expected,
     Showtime lost a lot of money.  Evander felt if he went to
     (rival) HBO and agreed to fight for less than $20 million,
     he would be going back on his word, and it could cause
     severe problems at Showtime."  Holyfield-Moorer drew "about"
     550,000 PPV buys and Showtime lost "a reported" $10M on the
     promo (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/7).  Holyfield added that he
     "would not rule out fighting" Mike Tyson (L.A. TIMES, 1/7).