An overwhelming community fightback has won a reprieve for an artwork depicting UFC champion Tai "Bam Bam" Tuivasa doing a "shoey".
The owner of The Foreshore sports bar in Geraldton had announced plans to paint over the mural by Perth street artist Jordan Rush after complaints from a local community group and a request by police.
The Foreshore owner, Sumit Kumarbrajabati, said a poll on a local community Facebook page yesterday showed 92 per cent of respondents supported keeping the picture and they had received dozens of inbox messages.
"We'd never had such a positive response to it. We'd been slammed before," Mr Kumarbrajabati said.
"We spoke again to the (police) liquor enforcement officer and he had no objection to (keeping) it."
Mr Kumarbrajabati said the plan had always been to update the mural every 12 months and it would be replaced in mid-2023.
"We never thought it could be such a big issue," he said.
"We will definitely change the way we look at murals and look at all the factors before the next one."
