It's the comeback story of the year. Mike Tyson has decided to come off of his deathbed heroically to take on Clifford Etienne in Memphis this Saturday night.

Like a Willis Reed hobbling onto the court for Game 7 of the 1971 NBA Finals as he led the Knicks, or a Kirk Gibson limping up to home plate for the Dodgers in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series against the unhittable Dennis Eckersley, or Michael Jordan shaking off the effects of a terrible flu to lead his Bulls into battle against the Jazz in Game 5 of the 1987 NBA Finals, or Kerri Strug, who on one ankle helped seal a gold medal for the U.S women's gymnastics team in the 1996 Olympics, Tyson soldiers on to fight the good fight and to save the day.

You just don't see bravery and valor like this everyday.

Lazarus couldn't have done it any better. The way things are going, Biggie and Tupac may be rising up from the dead to join Jay-Z on stage in Memphis. Hey, anything is possible. And this being where Graceland is, I wouldn't be surprised to see Elvis enter the building.

It's been a wild ride this week. How would you like to be HBO Pay-Per-View right about now? Think about it -- just yesterday you're thinking that the path had been cleared for them to take center stage and promote their March 1 dog-and-pony show featuring Roy Jones and John Ruiz.

Now, that event is the furthest thing from anyone's mind. With the ensuing buildup this week and the aftermath, Jones-Ruiz will be lucky to get off the "transaction" section of the sports page by Thursday of fight week.

In fact, these recent events and flip-flopping of Tyson has turned out to be an unintended stroke of genius for Showtime and anyone else involved in this promotion. Suddenly, what was thought to be a rather predictable comeback fight, has turned into a media frenzy. Talk shows on both radio and TV are now regularly talking about all things Tyson.

Ohhhh, that Tyson; he's crazy like a fox, and Jay Larkin probably couldn't be any happier about it. From "No-time" to Showtime.

In fact, it's hard to turn on the radio or the boob tube and not find Teddy Atlas talking about his former pupil -- of 20 years ago. What Martin Bashir has become to Michael Jackson, Atlas is to Tyson. On Tuesday afternoon, I'd heard him on nationally syndicated radio shows hosted by Jim Rome and Tim Brando. And then later on in the day, in the wake of an impending war in Iraq, he'd be interviewed on Fox News.

Yes, Tyson has overshadowed Saddam Hussien and Osama Bin Laden -- now that's promoting. And speaking of Tyson, there is the much-talked-about tattoo on the left side of his face. His trainer, Freddie Roach, has described it as "an African tribal thing." I want to see it for myself. You'd figure someone in the paparazzi would get a photo of this thing, but hey, if Sean Penn could do damage to those poor photographers, imagine what "Iron" Mike would do.

Going back to Jackson, I'm left wondering if Tyson is walking around with a mask that is similar to the ones Jacko makes his children hide behind in public?

What's really heart-warming though is how those like Shelly Finkel, his advisor, have rallied their support around their man. Whether it was a bad back or flu he was suffering from, they always had only the best of intentions for Tyson. Someone had to be there to tell him of the ramifications of not fighting on Saturday night and what it would do for his health -- his financial health. Good ole' Shelly -- he truly is boxing's "Father Flanigan."

We were led to believe that Tyson was bed-ridden for the last several days, and perhaps he was. But on Monday night when he was told of his dire financial straits by his advisors, by early Tuesday morning, he would make a miraculous recovery, enough so, to be doing roadwork. And who says money isn't a motivator? By saving his bout with Etienne, he in effect, saves his upcoming rematch with Lennox Lewis in June.

In reality, it wasn't just one bout Tyson would have been skipping out on, it would have been two. Tyson's latest trainer Roach thought he'd be on the road himself driving back to Los Angeles on Tuesday morning, but instead was packing his bags to go to Memphis. This after stating that he was going back home no matter what, because he felt that Tyson was in no condition to fight this upcoming Saturday. He was looking at the prospect of working for six weeks in Vegas with Tyson with nothing but memories, I think the reality of the situation kicked in with Roach.

Hey, I find it hard to blame him, you make me hang around Tyson for that long, I'd want to get compensated myself. Roach is about as good a man as you'll find in the sport, but we all warned him. Roach has found out, like every other trainer who works with Tyson, that you really don't train him, rather you get blindfolded and you get on a roller-coaster and hang on for the ride.

And after a relatively smooth run the first five weeks, it's been a tumultuous week for everyone involved with Tyson.

In fact other trainers, like Buddy McGirt (who is training Etienne) and Kenny Adams (who trains Diego Corrales) were informed early Tuesday morning that the fights would go on. It was a call to arms, no, they weren't flying to Baghdad to protect our country, but "Uncle Shelly" wanted them, to save a promotion that had hit 'code red'. This is patriotism at it's best.

So now, as I write this, we have a fight (of course, by the time you read this, we may not) but it's all par for the course that is Mike Tyson. But in a new twist, Tyson who is no stranger to postponing fights, for the first time in his colorful career, has postponed his own postponement.

But get this, now there are reports that Etienne is unhappy about the recent turn of events and that he is thinking about pulling out. Hey Cliffie, hate to break it to you, but you're the proverbial "B" side, the supporting actor, as long as Tyson shows up in Memphis, we have a show, with or without you. You might as well show up. After all, you don't get paid either if you don't show up. And besides, it'd be a shame to put in all that hard work for nothing.

They don't care about "The Black Rhino." For all they care, they'd stick a black wino in there -- just as long as he showed up on time. Movie shoots get stopped when Tom Cruise fails to show, not some extra that is there to provide background. Now be a good soldier and do your part to make sure everyone gets paid.

If not, somebody get "Bigfoot" Martin, Garing Lane or Jesse Ferguson on the phone. And with the way things have gone lately, you have a much better shot at winning than you did about two weeks ago. But either way, the show -- if Tyson shows -- must go on.

And after that, everyone involved should take a nice, looong, hot shower.