Tyson_s next fight likely in Europe

Shelly Finkel said the former undisputed heavyweight champion is expected to fight an opponent to be determined, at Milan, Italy, or Madrid or Barcelona, Spain, April 1 or April 8. Lou Savarese appears to be the leading candidate as Tyson_s opponent. Finkel said he has not approached Axel Schulz of Germany, as had been reported. Whoever and wherever Tyson fights, the match will be carried by Showtime on tape delay, as was his second-round knockout of British champion Julius Francis Jan. 29 at Manchester, England. Finkel, in Tampa to watch the U.S. Olympic boxing trials, said Tyson will fight again in June. Tyson has said he wants two or three more fights before challenging Lennox Lewis of Britain for the undisputed championship. Lewis is scheduled to make a defense against unbeaten Michael Grant April 29 at Madison Square Garden in New York. A major block to a Tyson-Lewis fight is that Tyson is under contract to Showtime and Lewis is contracted to HBO. It is not known how many fights each cable network has contracted with their respective boxers. Seth Abraham, president of Time Warner Sports, operator of HBO and its pay-per-view arm, TVKO, has talked about reaching a compromise. Jay Larkin, who runs boxing for Showtime and its pay-per-view branch, SET, has said there won_t be a Tyson-Lewis fight until Lewis_ contract with HBO expires. The Francis fight was Tyson_s first outside the United States since losing the undisputed championship to James "Buster" Douglas on a shocking 10th-round knockout Feb. 11, 1990, at Tokyo.