FIGHT HYPE: As the buzz around Saturday's Evander
Holyfield-Lennox Lewis fight grows, Lewis' attorney Milt
Chwasky said that when Don King "failed to provide letters
of credit in the amount" of $20M to secure the fight purse,
Time Warner "stepped" in with the "financial backing
necessary to allow the fight to go forward." But Chwasky
said King still "stands to make" $10-12M if PPV sales hit
the 1 million mark, "as expected." King called Chwasky a
"liar," but "admitted HBO came through" with $18.25M to
"help secure the purses" (NEWSDAY, 3/10). With tickets
ranging up to $1,500, MSG "sold out quicker than for any
other fight" in its history. Ringside seats are being
scalped for $4,000, and "on the street, there was a 200
percent markup on tickets, while they lasted" (INQUIRER,
3/10). With the strong sales, MSG Sports VP Kevin Wynne
said the facility "will aggressively go after other major
boxing events, and we will get them" (DAILY NEWS, 3/9).
WINNING FORMULA: In Dallas, Holly Cain writes that IMS
President Tony George is optimistic about Formula One's
return to the U.S. at IMS, and Cain reports that "initial
indications" are that corporate support "is there."
Although a date has yet to be set for the race, "ticket
demand already has been high just from the current IMS
ticketholder base" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 3/11).
