MIKE TYSON-CLIFFORD ETIENNE BOUT POSTPONED
JAY-Z CONCERT WILL TAKE PLACE ON SHOWTIME
NEW YORK, NY (Feb. 17, 2003) - Saturday night's heavyweight
bout between former undisputed heavyweight champion
Mike Tyson and world-ranked Clifford "The Black
Rhino" Etienne in Memphis has been postponed.
No new date was announced.
The 10-round bout was postponed after Tyson reportedly came down with a severe case of the flu several days ago.
"I'm sorry to let down all of my fans in Memphis and around the world, but I am not at 100 percent and I do not want to perform at less than that," Tyson said. "I have been in bed with the flu for the past five days and I am hopeful that the fight can be rescheduled soon.''
Marina Capurro, a spokesman for Showtime, said: "We've been told that Mike has flu-like symptoms and cannot fight Clifford Etienne this weekend. At this point, we do not know if the fight will be rescheduled. However, we are still presenting the Jay-Z concert live from Memphis Saturday (Feb. 22, 9 p.m. ET/PT). We will announce replacement programming as soon as possible.''