Posted on: Monday, June 3, 2002

Memphis betting on boxing for big bucks

By Will Edwards
Bloomberg News Service

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The biggest boxing bout of Willie "Duke" Herenton's career is one he's not even lacing up for. He amassed a 60-3 record in his seven years as an amateur boxer by learning to take punches and wear his foes down.

Now the mayor of Memphis, Tenn., is taking lumps over his decision to host the June 8 heavyweight fight between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson. Herenton sees the event as a chance to lift Memphis' image and give the local economy a boost — estimated at $50 million for area businesses by the city visitors' bureau.

Memphis knows about negative publicity. On April 4, 1968, the city was changed when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was slain on a motel balcony.

Now, with an unpredictable boxer, an unproven host, and the world as witness, Memphis risks watching its reputation be sullied again.

"I'm praying that we have a great fight and we can pull this off without any embarrassment to anyone," said Herenton, the city's first black mayor, in an interview. "It has a lot of upside, but if we don't execute well, it has downside, too."

Herenton isn't worried about Tyson, who was originally scheduled to fight Lewis in Las Vegas in April. The fight was called off when the Nevada State Athletic Commission voted not to license Tyson, citing his brawl with Lewis at a news conference.

What does concern him is living up to promises he made to win the right to host the fight, including providing adequate security and transportation routes.

Memphis has struggled to keep its citizens employed and the city government financially sound as the economy was hobbled by recession.