THE question of whether boxing should be banned always stirs up intense debate. There are many who view it as a noble sport, others who condemn it as a primitive activity which has no place in modern society.

It has created legends who have inspired millions and has taken no-hopers from the streets and given them the chance to make a living. It has also produced tragedies which cast doubt over the morality of human beings trying to hurt each other in the name of sport.

Whichever side of the ropes you happen to stand, it cannot be denied that boxing needs all the friends it can get. Boxing, more than any other sport, needs to keep its act clean.

What place, then, does Mike Tyson have in the world of sport? A convicted rapist, who faces further allegations of a sexual assault; a man who bit off part of an opponent's ear; someone who beat up two men in a road rage attack. In short, a psychopath.

The argument was still raging last night about whether his fight against Lennox Lewis will go ahead after the pair threw punches at a New York press conference, an ugly encounter which ended with Tyson sinking his teeth into his rival's leg.

Of course it will go ahead - for one simple reason. It is the same simple reason that made it certain that Tyson would get his licence back when he emerged from his prison cell after his rape conviction. Money.

Apart from the fighters themselves, too many hangers-on stand to make fortunes out of putting Tyson in the ring to punch, curse, snarl and probably bite. A scrap at a press conference simply serves to put more dollars in their greasy pockets.

If boxing is to have any credibility, it has to rise above the disturbing level of humanity represented by Mike Tyson. What more does he have to do to drag boxing into the gutter?

Whether boxing should be banned is open to debate. Whether Mike Tyson should be banned is not.

He should be - but we know it won't happen.