LAS VEGAS -- Mike Tyson might have killed that night.

The ring was full of police, security guards, commission inspectors and trainers. They wanted to keep Tyson from exploding right then and there. The self-described "Baddest Man on the Planet," not even blinking, shoved several officers out of his way before he was restrained.

Somewhere on the canvas, a hunk of Evander Holyfield's flesh got trampled.

	Most people tend to overlook the fact that Tyson actually has to fight.

It was a frightening scene that June 1997 night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Tyson snapped, and the whole world watched. He bit Holyfield on both ears, gnawing a piece off one and spitting it out. Tyson also shoved Holyfield in the back and then charged after him. Who knows what he would have done had he not been stopped?

Once the police restored a semblance of order in the ring, the decision was read. Tyson lost on a third-round disqualification.

The crowd, which had been observing in horror, apparently snapped, too. They pelted the ring with beer cups, chanted obscenities and brawled in the aisles.

The mob, feeling cheated, became more irate as it worked its way into the casino, where a full-scale riot nearly erupted. Forty people filled out injury reports, and dealers who were interviewed stated they not only feared for their lives, but also heard the distinct sound of gunfire.

The fans wanted their money back. Some had spent thousands on tickets. Many more placed wagers in the sports book. People watching at home were equally upset, and a class-action lawsuit was filed seeking pay-per-view and ticket rebates.

But those spectators must have been blinded by anger. What they didn't realize is they paid to watch the spectacle known as Mike Tyson, and what they got in return was more than they could have imagined.

"This fight will always live forever in the memory of the sport," Nevada State Athletic Commission executive director Marc Ratner said. "There's probably 50,000 who said they were there in person and five million who said they saw it on pay-per-view."

Thousands are converging on Las Vegas again this week for Tyson's umpteenth comeback Saturday night, this time against Orlin Norris. Tyson is 46-3 with 40 knockouts. Norris, a former cruiserweight champ, is 50-5 with 27 KOs.

It will be Tyson's first fight since he was released May 24 from a Maryland jail after serving 3½ months for assaulting two motorists after a fender-bender. It will be only his second fight since the Holyfield incident, for which the NSAC revoked Tyson's license, rendering him virtually banned from boxing.

Tyson last fought in January when, after losing every round, he knocked Francois Botha out with one punch. Tyson admitted he tried to break Botha's arm during a clinch.

It was just another in a long line of volatile moments for Tyson both in and outside of the ring, and just another reason for people to return to the scene.

It's about carnage. It's almost primordial.

"The element is danger," Showtime sports executive Jay Larkin said. Showtime will air the bout instead of putting it on pay-per-view. "Everybody watches Mike Tyson because nobody knows what's going to happen.

"Mike's had a lot of trouble in life. There's surprisingly a lot of good in that man. But, unfortunately, there are demons in there, too. In Mike Tyson's world, you have to take the bad with the good."

Tyson fight week provides a combination of good and evil among the public as well. Las Vegas is a different city when Tyson's fighting as opposed to Holyfield or Oscar De La Hoya.

"I scratch my head at the people who come to town for a Tyson fight," Las Vegas cab driver Jay Schweizer said while waiting for a fare at the MGM Grand. "A lot of them don't even go to the fight. They're here just to be a part of the event."

"It's scary to be out here," colleague Stephen Muldoon said. Muldoon has been driving cabs in Las Vegas for 25 years, and his seniority allows him to take Tyson fight nights off. "This job is dangerous enough, but Tyson fight week? He's a crude guy, and the crowd he attracts is tough."

The Las Vegas Metro Police Department says it must go into overdrive for Tyson fights. Extra officers are on duty to work "the vice angle, the organized crime angle, the gang angle, along with the traditional pickpockets, drunks and minor fights. And there is also the concern with the East Coast-West Coast rapper situation," Capt. Ray Flynn said.

Shortly after attending the Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight in 1996 at the MGM Grand, rapper Tupac Shakur was gunned down in a drive-by shooting a few blocks away. Although no arrest has been made in the slaying, a hotel surveillance tape showed an altercation involving Shakur's entourage immediately after the fight might have led to the shooting.

"People want to see blood," said Rob Brummitt, night manager of the Las Vegas Cigar Co., located a few hundred feet from the MGM. "There are a lot of unruly people. It just seems like there are a lot more punks than usual on the street.

"They show up with their gold chains, their nice clothes on, driving these nice cars. They want to be seen."

Tyson fans have a tendency to live a little more lavishly on fight night. They like to feel they're part of the event.

"People come into town ready to be flashy, be a big shot for the day," said Ted Stevens, manager of Dream Car Rentals, an agency that specializes in high-end vehicles such as Vipers, Porsches, Ferraris and Humvees. "Every Tyson fight we're sold out."

Promoter Dan Goossen of America Presents noted Tyson's allure is international. While De La Hoya mostly draws from the Southern California and Hispanic populations, Tyson is followed by Europeans, Asians, Africans, etc.

"He's the biggest act in show business," Goossen said. "People know, no matter what, he's going to go out there with one thing in mind: to rip the other guy's head off. That's what people pay to see.

"People love Mike. Some love to see him win, some people love to see him lose. But either way he creates a stir."

Tyson is pumping up his persona even more for this fight. He told the Los Angeles Times last week he would bite an opponent's ears again if he was provoked -- he claimed Holyfield was head butting him -- and his predictions for Norris have been severe.

"Get your ticket and show up on time," Tyson's co-trainer, Tommy Brooks, said at Wednesday's press conference, "because Mike's going to do what he does best: Peel somebody's wig back."

Added Tyson: "I'm bringing some pain, baby."

His audience applauded. As expected.