THE parlous state of British boxing was illustrated in the report by Tony Kelly (September 4).

York cruiserweight Jamie Warters' proposed contest with Leeds' Denzil Browne is now, seemingly, off.

Warters' camp claim Browne wanted 'Mike Tyson-type money' to fight. In response, Browne himself says he only asked for between £2,500 and £3,000.

It appears someone is being very economical with the truth.

As Mike Tyson only fights for millions of dollars, I feel the claims of the Warters' camp are dubious. Is Jamie running scared?

Colin S Jeffrey,

East Mount Road,

York.

Updated: 11:46 Thursday, September 11, 2003