MEMPHIS, Tenn. - When Mike Tyson talks, the media listen. Then they write, film and broadcast to a world that can scarcely await his next move.

"The public's interest in Mike Tyson is prurient fascination. He's a guy that's pure hate, that doesn't care who he offends, that flaunts his savagery and his sexuality and his craziness," said Lou DiBella, a former HBO executive who was involved in four of Tyson's bouts, including his loss to Buster Douglas.

"It's the same thinking that made O.J. a bigger story than what was going on in Afghanistan and the Middle East," he said.

"We live in a Jerry Springer world," DiBella said, "and Mike Tyson is reality TV."

But what does it say about a society that champions a man who has said he wished to eat children, seems unrepentant after a rape conviction brought him one of two stints in prison, and has bitten his opponents?

"It says that we see a little bit of ourselves in Mike Tyson," Carol Leiberman said.

"We're born with sexual and violent instincts that we're supposed to keep under control. We get a thrill from seeing Mike Tyson act on them," said Leiberman, a Beverly Hills-based media psychologist.

"People aren't tuning in to the fight to watch Mike Tyson as the best example of boxing. They're fascinated with the potential for death and destruction, and they want to see how far he's going to go," she said. "There's a parallel between the ring Tyson fights in and the ring that the media has him in. And he explodes, larger than life, whether it's in an interview or in the boxing ring."

The hype for Tyson's heavyweight title bout Saturday against Lennox Lewis in Memphis, Tenn., began with Tyson's obscenity-laced tirade in Hawaii on April 30.

The fighter's rantings were highlighted by his expressing the now infamous desire to kick in the heads and stomp on the testicles of the reporters' children who came to Maui to cover him. He also insulted a female reporter, saying she shouldn't talk unless she was prepared to "fornicate."

The media became a forum for Tyson's filth, placing his sideshow antics side-by-side with current events. Tyson's tattooed, gold-toothed image appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, which ran inside a close-up photo of boxer Evander Holyfield's ear minus the chunk Tyson bit off.

Paula Zahn discussed Tyson, 35, on CNN's American Morning, her guests being a boxing historian and the female reporter at whom Tyson's sexual comments were aimed.

In an unedited interview on the Fox News Channel, the fighter cursed often, and, later admitted having bitten Lewis' thigh in a Jan. 22 news conference brawl - something he previously had denied.

Tyson (49-3, 2 no-contests) later vowed to "kill" Lewis by crushing his skull and spreading "his pompous brains all over the ring when I hit him."

"Those things wouldn't be written or televised, except that he's Mike Tyson," said Michael Katz, who has reported on boxing for more than 35 years and who was hired by the Memphis Commercial Appeal to cover the fight. "You report what he does and says. If that sells tickets, that's beside the point."

"Mike Tyson reaches out to the eyeballs of those who are not the hardcore boxing fans," said boxing historian Bert Randolph Sugar, former editor of Ring Magazine.

Despite Tyson's transgressions, he ranks with Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods among the most asked-about athletes on the ESPN.com Web site, according to ESPN vice president and assistant managing editor Norby Williamson.

"There's always people who chose sports figures for reasons other than talent," said HBO executive Kery Davis. "Dennis Rodman didn't get popular simply because he's a great rebounder."

As boxing's biggest draw, Tyson has been involved in seven of the top 11 highest-grossing pay-per-view fights and eight of the top 20 events. The infamous "bite fight," Holyfield-Tyson II in 1997, ranks No. 1, at 1.99 million buys. It eclipsed Holyfield-Tyson I of '96, at No. 2 with 1.6 million buys.

Despite a record cost of $55 per home, pay-per-view sales of Lewis-Tyson might reach a record 2 million buys. "I've proved I've surpassed [Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Jack Johnson] as far as my popularity," Tyson told ESPN boxing analyst Max Kellerman. "I'm the biggest fighter in the history of the sport. If you don't believe me, check the cash register."

"The media exploits everything Mike Tyson does, making him a bad boy with the license to kill or at least a license to bite," said Leiberman. "But we're getting used to hearing things and becoming desensitized. And with all of the competition, the media feels it has to push the envelope, more and more, to get more people to tune in."

Fox News Channel might have pushed too far on May 4, when it aired an unedited Tyson interview during prime time. In it, Tyson freely used the f-word and made several racially and sexually charged remarks. It was introduced as an "explosive interview," by host Rita Cosby, who warned, "these are Mike Tyson's own words. Some are explicit and may not be suitable for young people."

"Warning people not to watch something is one of the most subtle reverse psychological ploys ever," said Sugar, who appeared on Cosby's show to discuss the Tyson interview. Neither Cosby nor her superiors would comment through their public relations department. But Fox president of programming Kevin Magee told The Washington Post, "Our decision was that to beep everything that needed to be beeped would be terribly distracting to the audience and wouldn't have given a clear picture of who Mike Tyson is at the right moment."

USA Today boxing writer Dan Rafael called it "salacious" of Fox "to run the entire interview on national television with all those curse words in it."

ESPN aired similar material with the curse words bleeped out. "Whether it's Fox, or it's ESPN with its bleeps, Tyson's using the media and using it brilliantly," Sugar said.

Lewis-Tyson is the first joint venture between cable giants HBO and Showtime.

"Tyson, for better or worse, is larger than life," said Showtime vice president Jay Larkin. "No one here has ever endorsed some of the things Mike says, or ever pretended to rationalize or apologize for him. Along with all the baggage and drama, people believe Mike still has the concussive power to end the fight [quickly]."

Pay-per-view events "that have done well often had controversy surrounding them," said HBO executive vice president Mark Taffet. "We do not subscribe to the theory that any publicity's good publicity. I prefer that coverage be about this fight's place in history rather than on other issues."

Selected members of the media were admitted to Tyson's camp in April, and, as heavyweight Hasim Rahman noted, they served their purpose. "Obviously, the media loves it," said the ex-champ from Baltimore.

"Can't nobody hear what Tyson is saying in Hawaii if everyone didn't put it all over the Internet and all over the news and all over the newspapers. If people stopped listening and printing it, then, maybe, nobody would be concerned about it," Rahman said. "But if that's what sells tickets and that's how he makes his living, then why shouldn't he be able to make a living?"

When talking to the media doesn't suit him, Tyson lets others speak for him. His trainer took the questions at a news conference yesterday.

On Saturday night, when the world tunes in for the fight, historian Sugar will be among those tuning out. "Boxing is organized assault, but there are rules, and Mike Tyson subscribes to none of them," he said.

However, Williamson of ESPN said boycotting Tyson "would be almost as irresponsible to our viewers as letting Tyson's tirades go on television unedited."

Said USA Today's Rafael: "My philosophy with Mike Tyson is like it is for people who pick up garbage for a living: You hold your nose and do your job."

Why they watch

Here's a sampling of area boxing fans' thoughts on Mike Tyson:

Name: George Alston

Age: 59

Occupation: Fitness and personal trainer, retired warehouse manager and former boxing trainer and manager.

Residence: Jessup

Comment: "I've watched Mike Tyson from the very beginning when he was a good, young fighter who was well-managed, well-trained and could knock people out in a short time. That was a classic fighter. Now I watch him because you never know what he's going to do next. I watch him hoping he will revert back to being the quality fighter he once was."

Name: Kenny Logwood

Age: 52

Occupation: Retired ironworker

Residence: Glen Burnie

Comment: "I've watched every Mike Tyson fight, including his last six fights. I'd like to see him get beat up. He always does something stupid, gets disqualified. What's the use in watching him anymore if that's what he's going to do? But I'll watch him again. I wish I could not watch him, but I want to see him get his butt kicked so bad. He's the devil. He's like a bad accident: You don't want to see it, but you look to see the blood. I'm hoping it's his blood all of the time."

Name: Sean McGraw

Age: 19

Occupation: College-bound graduate of St. Mary's High

Residence: Davidsonville

Comment: "I just can't help but watch him because of a combination of factors. He's a weird person and a wild man. He's unpredictable, mad at the world and the person he's fighting is feeling the wrath of Mike Tyson. He's just a psycho, and that's why I watch."

Name: Yvette Moore

Age: 38

Occupation: Manager of Columbia Athletic Club

Residence: Landover

Comment: "All the flak about him possibly fighting in D.C. was over this misogynist behavior, but I watch Mike Tyson because he's a good fighter, not because he's a loving husband and father. He's a fighter that has problems outside of the ring, but that's an exclusive and completely separate issue to me from what he does in the ring. I'm not saying I would have him over for dinner, or anything, but I watch Mike Tyson because he's a good fighter. Period."

Name: Anthony Ryan

Age: 44

Occupation: Corrections officer, business owner, high school lacrosse coach.

Residence: Baltimore

Comment: "I think I've seen every Tyson fight, and all of the recent ones for sure. He's not the boxer he used to be, but he's still the most devastating fighter of his generation. I don't watch him because I'm waiting for something silly to happen, and I don't think that he's become a sideshow. I'm watching him hoping that he can regain his form."

Name: Chip Thomas

Age: 53.

Occupation: Senior account manager with Verizon.

Place of residence: Glenwood.

Comment: "I watch Mike Tyson because he's explosive, exciting and you never know what's going to happen. I have a problem with the ear-biting thing. It was over the top, but he's fun to watch. Most of his late hits after the bell have been the tag ends of combinations or they came when he already was in the motion of throwing a punch. We're talking about someone who is arguably the best fighter in history in terms of carrying a fight to its conclusion."

Name: Greg Wise

Age: 30

Occupation: Naval aviator .

Residence: Pasadena

Comment: "I watch him when he's on, sure. I caught both Holyfield fights. I enjoy his fights solely for the spectacle of them. I don't watch for what he says he's going to do to his opponent, as far as strategy. I watch for what's going to happen, unexpectedly. The ear-biting stuff and whatever, it's always newsworthy."

- Lem Satterfield