LENNOX LEWIS backed out of a match with Vitali Klitschko four times before finally scuppering the bout by making the Ukrainian a derisory offer, Klitschko’s promoter has claimed.

The world heavyweight champion will next meet Kirk Johnson, the Canadian, in Los Angeles on June 21, after bouts against Klitschko, the WBC’s mandatory challenger, and Mike Tyson fell through.

But Klaus-Peter Kohl, Klitschko’s promoter, said at an awards evening in New York that a deal had been signed for the match last September. “Lennox had the opportunity to fight Vitali four times,” Kohl said. “Lennox Lewis is a great fighter but he is the one who destroyed the fight against Vitali.”

Under WBC rules, a champion must face the No 1 contender every 12 months, making the bout with Klitschko due by June 8 — a year after Lewis’s last bout against Tyson. By refusing to sanction the bout against Johnson — it will only be for the little-recognised IBO title — the WBC has effectively saved itself from having to strip Lewis of the title, although negotiations with Klitschko will have to start again once Johnson is out of the way.

Johnson is as easy a challenger as Lewis could have hoped for. He was exposed in his previous challenge for a world title against John Ruiz last year, at one time being floored by a jab. Ruiz has since been outclassed by Roy Jones Jr.

Jones, the WBA champion, now seems to be Lewis’s long-term target. “We’ll just keep fighting guys until the big fight with Roy Jones comes up and I think it will happen eventually,” Emanuel Steward, Lewis’s trainer, said.

Lewis has said that he is looking to box on for another 12 months. “People are still crying out for Lennox Lewis,” he said. “I believe myself that I’ve still got one good year. There’s still some work that needs to be done and I’m the man for the job.”

Nicky and Jason Booth, the first brothers simultaneously to hold British titles since John and George Feeney 20 years ago, can look ahead to bigger things after recording impressive victories at the Harvey Hadden Centre, Nottingham, last night.

Nicky, 23, overcame a slow start to retain his British bantamweight title with a points victory over Jamie Yelland. Despite being five years younger than his opponent, Booth was the more experienced of the pair and he made that count in the middle rounds, showing the better variety of punches to give the challenger, from Watford, a thorough going-over.

Although Yelland rallied bravely in the ninth round and stood toe to toe with the champion in the eleventh, Booth ran out a handy winner.

Jason, 25, who is British flyweight champion, secured the best win of his career with an eight-round points victory over Lindi Memani, of South Africa, a former WBO title challenger.

After three unsuccessful challenges for the European title, Booth should have been boxing for the IBO super-flyweight title last night, until Lunga Ntontela, the champion, pulled out. But he secured the decision after flooring Memani with a left hook in the final round.