Lennox Lewis will defend his WBC heavyweight title
against Zeljko Mavrovic at CT's Mohegan Sun Casino on
September 26, according to Terry Price of the HARTFORD
COURANT, who writes that the fight will take place in a
temporary 5,000-seat closed facility to be constructed for
the event. The fight will be the first not to be held in
the casino's 1,800-seat bingo hall, and Price writes that
"it won't be the last." The casino's plan to build a
10,000-seat arena that could be ready by 2001, allowing it
to bid "for virtually any major fight." Tickets are priced
between $100-500, but Etess said that he "will be surprised
if the card is not a sellout" (HARTFORD COURANT, 8/12).
BEAN COUNTING: Evander Holyfield "is taking a cut" in
his normal $8-10M purse and "is tying his purse to a
percentage of the gate at the Georgia Dome" for his
September 19 fight against Vaughn Bean, according to Timothy
Smith of the N.Y. TIMES. Holyfield's lawyer Jim Thomas
"would not estimate" Holyfield's take, but said that it
"would be less than" $3M, "even if ticket sales are strong."
To increase visibility before the fight, Holyfield, an
Atlanta native, will spend his final four weeks of training
at two different Atlanta gyms (N.Y. TIMES, 8/12).
