Fans get glimpse of Seldon

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, Sept. 3, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Some new members -- maybe even the first members -- of the Bruce Seldon fan club were informally enlisted when the World Boxing Association heavyweight champion held a public workout at the MGM Grand Garden.

Reverent about his belief in God and just as proud of his physical prowess, Seldon came across Monday as warm and sincere as he addressed a few hundred people who escaped the Labor Day heat long enough to watch the man who will fight Mike Tyson Saturday. His workout was brief as he had already put in a tough hour at the Ringside Gym, but Seldon compensated for it with a few observations about his upcoming fight as well as a "come-on-down" invitation for any and all who wanted his autograph or a picture with him.

He made some friends.

"Nobody really knows Bruce Seldon," said MGM sports book director Gene Kivi, who has seen nothing but Tyson money come in on the fight.

Kivi may have been talking about the betting public's lack of recognition of Seldon as a competent fighter, yet his premise can be extended across the board. Only the best read of boxing fans have more than a passing knowledge of the WBA champ, a k a, the Atlantic City Express.

"I know it's going to be hard because I'll be fighting the man who's considered to be the greatest fighter of them all, but I feel as if it's my time," Seldon said. "I know all the other opponents he fought said the same thing, but I truly believe it's going to happen for me."

He could be right, of course.

Seldon, 29, is 33-3 with 29 knockouts and hasn't been beaten since 1992. He's strong, he's quick and he has a great jab.

"But can he take a punch?" Kivi asks, and it's that uncertainty that has made Seldon a substantial underdog to the 44-1 Tyson.

The odds at the MGM have remained constant for a few days and are currently at Tyson minus 2200 to Seldon's plus 1200. The round prop is a minus 190 that it won't go four, against a plus 160 that it will go four.

If Seldon has his way, it'll go at least four.

"The last three guys Tyson fought stood there like statues," he said. "They went in with good intentions, but it's going to be a factor that I can actually move around.

"I think the first half of the fight will be fast and Tyson will come right at me. If I can get halfway through the fight, he'll slow down. And when he slows down, I'll pick it up.

"The longer the fight goes, the better I'll get."

There's a parallel here as Seldon's career has taken a turn for the better after several years of nondescript fights on the club-circuit level. Consecutive losses to Oliver McCall and Riddick Bowe in 1991, plus a decision loss to Tony Tubbs a year later, left the impression that Seldon had hit the wall.

Since then he's 9-0 with two key 1995 wins over Tony Tucker and Joe Hipp with the WBA championship at stake.

Now he gets Tyson.

"He's looking past me," Seldon said, and there's probably some truth to that. Tyson eyes a fight with Evander Holyfield that may be announced within the week as heading for Las Vegas in November.

So the immediate question is whether the Express can derail that Tyson locomotive.

"It'll be a tremendous fight," Seldon predicted. "I'm prepared. To be a heavyweight champion you have to be confident, and I'm truly confident."

This is heady stuff for a man who spent more than half of his teenage years in prison. Incarcerated in New Jersey at the age of 15 and held until he was 19, Seldon came out of prison changed for the better. Religion entered his life and his late mother, Joan Graham, became a more positive influence on him.

He still speaks often and fervently about her.

"It's me and her against Mike Tyson," he said, adding that he frequently feels his mother's presence despite her passing two years ago.

Cynics would say Seldon will need all the help he can get when he steps in against the ferocious, no-nonsense Tyson.

"Tyson's a prohibitive favorite against the guys he's been fighting," Kivi said. "But I think people might be surprised by Seldon. I see him putting forth a good effort and the fight going five, six, seven rounds."

Nonetheless, it goes without saying Kivi also sees Tyson eventually handling Seldon and winning.

"But it'll be a better fight than Tyson vs. (Frank) Bruno," he added, dredging up a one-sided bout in March that was over in the third round when the petrified Bruno was counted out.

With Tyson having fewer than seven full rounds under his belt in the three fights since his 1995 release from prison, there's a reason bettors are taking him and the under even if Seldon presents a more formidable challenge.

"All the money is on the under," Kivi said.

And Seldon's lack of notoriety has contributed to that tidal wave of support for Tyson.

"I'm what you call the sleeper of the heavyweight division," Seldon said. "Not many people know me."

The few hundred who met him Monday found him a likable, accessible guy. They'll undoubtedly be pulling for him Saturday.

And they, in turn, will tell their friends they were charter members of the Seldon fan club in the event their man pulls off the unexpected, defies the odds and upsets a fighter many perceive as unbeatable.

Fight notes

Among those taking in Seldon's public workout was former daredevil motorcyclist Evil Knieval, along with a co-manager for Tyson, Rory Holloway. ... Seldon limited his workout to hitting the mitts and the speed bag -- which he knocked off its spindle -- as well as some impressive jumping exercises where he leaps from the floor to the ring apron. ... Tyson is a 22-to-1 favorite because Kivi said he opened him at 15 to 1 only to have it quickly bet to 25 to 1 when Tyson vs. Seldon was first scheduled for July 13. (Tyson became ill and the fight was later postponed.) "I split the difference this time," Kivi said. ... Numbers may go up today on the primary undercard bouts and they'll be as one-sided as the main event. "They'll both be 20 to 1 or more," Kivi said of fights between IBF welterweight champ Felix Trinidad and challenger Ray Lovato, and WBC junior middleweight champ Terry Norris and challenger Alex Rios. ... No official word on ticket sales for the card, but tickets remain available.

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