Lewis-Tyson 'Bloody on the Muddy' roils Memphis

Residents of this riverfront city reacted with a mixture of disgust and civic pride on Tuesday to news that boxer Mike Tyson is coming to town to fight Lennox Lewis for the heavyweight championship.

"I have never been more disappointed in the city of Memphis ... I will not sell myself out for this THUG if this is the only way Memphis can 'get on the map,'" Michelle Sanders said in comments published on the Memphis Commercial Appeal's Web site.

But Mayor Willie Herenton, a former boxer, could barely contain his excitement about the bout to be held at the 21,000-seat Pyramid arena along the broad banks of the Mississippi River. "I'm in a state of euphoria," he crowed to reporters.

Tyson, the challenger, carries a lot of baggage, having spent 3-1/2 years in an Indiana prison for raping a beauty pageant contestant, bit the ear of champion Evander Holyfield during a bout, brawled at a recent news conference with Lewis, and been in a series of scrapes involving women, motorists and journalists.

But the estimated $100 million fight -- with a projected $17.5 million purse for each fighter -- carries an estimated $10 million windfall for Memphis hoteliers, club owners and restaurateurs.

It also will garner unprecedented publicity for this city of 1 million known to some as a music mecca and home to Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion and to others as the racially riven site of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.

"Tyson is so controversial, I think it's natural that you're going to have people saying, 'How can we be part of this situation?'" Kevin Kane, president of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, told Reuters.

"Everybody has some concern with the image of Mike Tyson, but the bottom line is Lennox Lewis is the heavyweight champion of the world and has a huge international following," he said.

Promoters were trying to give the fight a moniker that has a ring to it, such as "The Rumble on the River" or "The Bloody on the Muddy" -- a reference to the muddy Mississippi.

Others wrote to the Commercial Appeal's Web site to ridicule any moralizing "Bible thumpers" who criticize the bout because of Tyson's reputation. They said the fight and its attendant publicity would raise the city's profile that suffers from a second-city complex compared to the thriving Nashville and Atlanta metropolises.

But long-time boxing journalist Bert Sugar told the Commercial Appeal he would not cover the bout.

"The only thing that separates boxing from out-and-out assault are the rules and regulations, and Mike Tyson adheres to none of them," Sugar said. "It's my humble opinion that this fight belongs in Memphis because Elvis Presley died on a toilet, and that's exactly where Mike Tyson is going."