By Mike O'Neal

Staff Writer

Ross's Landing on Sunday will become the "Madison Square Garden of gurgitation," according to George Shea, head of the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

"When I come here to Chattanooga I only think of only one thing: 100 Krystals," he said. "There are only two or three individuals in the world who could eat that many Krystals in eight minutes and they are here, Pat Bertoletti and Joey Chestnut."

Mr. Chestnut and Mr. Bertoletti, ranked No. 1 and No. 2 respectively by Major League Eating, are the favorites to win Krystal Square Off IV World Hamburger Eating Championship.

Among Mr. Chestnut holds records are hot dogs, (66, with buns, in 12 minutes), asparagus (8.6 pounds of tempura fried spears in 10 minutes) and cheese sandwiches (47 in 10 minutes).

"This is the one I need to pull off," said Mr. Chestnut, three-time runner-up to Takeru Kobayashi who will not compete due to pain in his jaw.

"I don't know if Kobayashi was really injured or we scared him off," Mr. Chestnut said Friday after magically making one of the 2 1/2 inch square burgers disappear in a single gulp.

"That's freaking me out," said Jacquelyn Hawkins, who was walking by the river Friday afternoon and saw Mr. Chestnut's demonstration. "What a sight; he just swallowed that whole."

Mr. Bertolleti, who holds records for eating grits (21 pounds in 10 minutes), pickled jalapenos (177 peppers in 15 minutes) and strawberry shortcake (15.25 pounds in eight minutes) said it is more fun, and faster, to go all out and not think about setting records.

"The less thinking the better," he said. "All I focus on is getting it down."

E-mail Mike O'Neal at moneal@timesfreepress.com