TUNICA, MISS. ? Mike Tyson playfully nibbled on the arm of his baby boy, who didn’t seem all that interested in the new tattoo on his father’s face. For those who were, a university instructor was on hand to explain its significance.

The atmosphere surrounding Tyson’s fight with Clifford Etienne was already circuslike. The carnival officially opened for business Thursday at a news conference goofy even by Tyson’s standards.

The former heavyweight champion played with his 9-month-old son, chatted amiably with the media and acted surprised that there was such a fuss about his tattoo.

Behind him, Tonya Harding flexed her muscles, while University of Memphis instructor Kya Reaves talked nearby about the Maori warrior roots of the design on Tyson’s face.

“It’s indicative he wants it to represent the warrior in him,” Reaves said.

Tyson, meanwhile, appeared to be healing rapidly from whatever ailed him earlier in the week. He split the lip of a sparring partner before making a jovial appearance to promote a fight he desperately needs to rescue his floundering career.

“They offered me more money. That makes you very, very well real quick,” Tyson said. “If I don’t get it, I get sick rapidly real quick.”

Tyson was to get more than $5 million to fight Etienne — huge money unless you’re Mike Tyson and used to purses that routinely top $20 million. The free-spending Tyson needs as much as he can get because he is low on funds and owes his ex-wife $6.5 million from his future earnings.

“I’m just thinking about what I’m going to buy myself with the cash I get,” Tyson said.

Mike Tyson and his new facial tattoo weighed in at 2253/4 pounds on Thursday in Mississippi.

Tyson’s manager, Shelly Finkel, denied his fighter received any more money and said Tyson was just joking about his illness.

Though various reports from Tyson’s camp have described him as being sick and bedridden over the weekend, he showed no ill effects when he went five rounds with sparring partner Stan Allen and sent Allen to the hospital to get stitches on his lip.

That could be bad news for Etienne, who came nattily attired to the press conference and then threw a playful jab at Tyson.

“I’d like to thank Mike for finally showing up,” Etienne said.

Tyson’s tattoo was the center of attention.

“I just wanted to put something on my face,” Tyson said. “I didn’t like the way my face was looking.”

He had the tattoo emblazoned on his face last week but said he has been thinking about it for two years. He said there would be more to come.

“A tattoo is personal. You guys know everything about me,” he said. “There’s billions of people outside with tattoos. This is nothing. This isn’t even halfway done.”

Tyson stopped training after getting the tattoo, then a few days later came down sick. He didn’t return to the gym until Wednesday, when he sparred four rounds and went back Thursday for five more.

“It was a great workout. I was real happy,” trainer Freddie Roach said. “Mike hit his sparring partner with an uppercut and busted his lip in half.”

Still, Roach was wary about a fighter who missed so much work.

“I’m still worried about his conditioning if the fight goes into the later rounds,” he said.

Tyson wasn’t as worried.

“I don’t really think it will bother me,” he said. “I know how to fight. I go in there to fight.”

In Tyson’s prime, someone like Etienne wouldn’t worry him at all. But Tyson has been exposed in recent fights — particularly his loss to Lennox Lewis — as a fighter with declining skills and dwindling dedication.

Tyson weighed in Thursday at 2253/4 pounds to 2223/4 for Etienne.

Oddsmakers had made Tyson a 7-1 favorite, but that dropped to 4-1 after a week of missed workouts and illness. At the Stardust sports book, most of the money was on Etienne until he vowed not to fight on Tuesday, only to change his mind the next day.

“His reversal and hesitation leads me to believe he’s very intimidated,” said Doug Castaneda, a supervisor at the Stardust.