Mike Tyson has filed a legal action to try and force a fight with Hasim Rahman, the new WBC and IBF world heavyweight champion.
Rahman shocked Lennox Lewis by knocking out the British holder of the titles in the fifth round of their clash in South Africa a fortnight ago.
There was a rematch clause in the Rahman-Lewis contract and Lewis argues Rahman should fight no one else before facing him, with his television paymasters HBO wanting the contest to be held in September. But Tyson has filed an action at the US District Court in Manhattan to fight Rahman first.
"The action I took was not something that I wanted to do but needed to do," Tyson said in a statement. "There are people trying to abuse the system to prevent me from an opportunity to fight the new heavyweight champion."
"He [Rahman] has publicly stated that he wants to fight me next. Rahman versus Tyson is the fight the public most wants to see. I hope this helps clear the path for us to meet very soon," Tyson said.
When Rahman beat Lewis he inherited a WBC mandatory defence that would be against Tyson, who is the body's number one contender.
Tyson adviser Shelly Finkel said the legal action seeks to make the WBC conform to their rules which, he said, forbids an automatic rematch.