Staples Can’t Iron In All the Details

As Lennox Lewis and Kirk Johnson took their places for the requisite face-off photo op, Johnson whispered to Lewis.

“You’re supposed to be retired,” Johnson said.

Actually, there were several other things that the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion was “supposed” to be doing Thursday afternoon.

Primarily, sharing the stage with Mike Tyson.

But the unpredictable Tyson predictably failed to sign a contract by Thursday’s 1 p.m. deadline that would have had him co-headline, along with Lewis, a boxing card at Staples Center.

And although the only official bout announced for the June 21 card in downtown Los Angeles was the scheduled 12-rounder between Lewis and Johnson, Lewis was not about to count the troubled Tyson out completely.

“One day he’s left, one day he’s right,” Lewis said of Tyson, who may or may not be fighting Oleg Maskaev. Tyson was reportedly in New York, where he has a $100-million suit pending against his former promoter, Don King.

Tyson, though, is apparently contemplating re-signing with King, which would keep him off the card.

“Hopefully he ends up in the middle,” Lewis said. “It would have been great being on the same card. People would have gravitated toward it. I’m still optimistic about it.”

Others, though, are not. At least not openly.

“This was never about the undercard, or the other fight,” Staples Center President Tim Leiweke said.

“For two years we’ve wanted Lennox Lewis. The last fight we had here was Roy Jones-[Julio] Gonzalez and this one puts that one away, bar none.”

Lewis (40-2-1, 31 knockouts) meeting the unheralded Johnson (34-1-1, 25), who is ranked only eighth by both the WBC and World Boxing Assn., will be the third world championship fight at Staples Center, which opened in 1999.

The arena has played host to the Shane Mosley-Oscar De La Hoya welterweight bout in June 2000 and the Jones-Gonzalez light-heavyweight fight in July 2001.

It will also be the biggest heavyweight fight in the Southland since Muhammad Ali defeated Ken Norton in September 1973 at the Forum.

But for better or worse, the enigmatic Tyson’s being on the card would have given the show more box-office appeal, even if Lewis is the recognized world champion.

Tyson’s not being on the card would save fight fans money, as ticket prices, which were not announced, would be more expensive with him on it.

Staples Center, which paid close to an $8-million site fee with the understanding that Tyson would be on the card, is holding an online auction for 200 ringside area seats, with bidding beginning at $3,000 for a package including an autographed Lewis glove, two seats and a post-fight reception.

Lewis’ title is not one of the perks up for grabs, though, because the WBC is not sanctioning the bout.

The WBC is not stripping Lewis of his title, though, so long as he agrees to next meet its mandatory challenger, Vitali Klitschko, who, Lewis claims, recently passed on a “lucrative” offer.

Klitschko, who attended Thursday’s news conference, scoffed at the suggestion and said he was tendered no such deal.

So Lewis, who has not fought since knocking out Tyson in the eighth round last June in Memphis, and who also hoped to have a rematch with Tyson done by now, is left to tangle with the nondescript Johnson.

“After the Tyson fight,” Lewis said, “there was no one to box, so I took a rest.”

Johnson, who blew his shot at former WBA champ John Ruiz’s title in July when he was disqualified in the 10th round for repeated low blows, has rebounded with a second-round knockout of Jeremy Bates in December and a fourth-round TKO of Lou Savarese in March.

Johnson understands the seeming lack of reverence afforded him by looking at Lewis’ career path.

“I hate to be using Lennox Lewis as an example, but the bottom line is, I’ve watched his career and he’s never gotten the respect until now, his final days,” Johnson said. “And by beating him, I’ll get my respect.”

Even if the WBC title is not up for grabs?

“It doesn’t matter to me because he beat the man who beat the man who beat the man,” Johnson said. “As long as I beat him I’ll be recognized.”

Lewis agreed, saying that a sanctioning body’s not being involved did not diminish things.

“Actually, it saves me some money, not having to pay sanctioning fees,” he said. “I’m the linear champion. I believe that by itself is greater than all the titles.”

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An ESPN card will be held at the tennis stadium at the soon-to-be-opened Home Depot National Training Center in Carson on June 20, the night before the Lewis-Johnson fight.