BRUCE SELDON insists he did not take a dive against Mike Tyson on Saturday. He's correct. By any standard, it was a bellyflop, a great, bouncing, funny bellyflop worthy of any of the greats who ever stuck on a bulbous nose and wore baggy pants and greasepaint.

So it seems only natural now for the deposed World Boxing Association (WBA) title-holder - champion would seem to be a poor choice of words under the circumstances - to laugh all the way to the bank to deposit the $5 million he was given for providing one minute and 49 seconds of chuckles.

Seldon (29) had the bellyflop down pat, but he needs to work on the first part of his act - to reveal at least an apparent cause of the first of his two halt"gainers onto the canvas at the MGM Grand Arena.

If it was a punch that floored Seldon, then Casper The Friendly Ghost, the popular cartoon character, threw it. None of the mere mortals at ringside, including the referee, saw it.

Tyson certainly came out bent on destruction at the sound of the bell. But he was wild with round house rights and lefts, including the right that whistled over Seldon's head but somehow still managed to send Seldon - who claims he trained hard for the bout - flopping to the canvas.

"The first knockdown, I thought he missed the punch," said referee Richard Steele, who did not begin counting over the fallen Seldon immediately, apparently thinking he had slipped.

But "the fighter seemed dazed and hurt, so I had to pick up the count," said a gracious Steele.

Seldon got up quickly and Tyson charged again this time landing a left hook to the top of Seldon's head. Not one to be indecisive, Seldon went down again.

He quickly got back up and, standing still in front of Steele, shook his head. Then, in what could charitably be called a delayed reaction, Seldon stumbled backward into the ropes, and Steele, who by then had become a qualified theatre critic, stopped the scheduled 12-round fight.

About the second knockdown, Steele said Seldon looked to be in bad shape. I've seen worse. I cannot tell how hard Mike Tyson can punch."

It didn't appear from ringside that Seldon could either.

The crowd of about 9,000 fans also apparently couldn't as they chanted, "fix, fix, fix."

I am not going to come in here and take a dive. I worked hard to get to this point," Seldon protested afterwards. "I am not going to take a dive. I didn't train 12 weeks to take a dive."

Seldon had tried in the opening minutes of the round to hold off Tyson with his jab as he had promised. But when Tyson dismissed it like it was a handicapped gnat, Seldon tried holding on for life before discovering the rewards of the bellyflop that even featured a little bounce upon landing.

Seldon was terrified," Tyson's trainer Jay Bright said. "When he found out his jab wasn't going to bother Mike he was scared to death."

Tyson's next opponent, former champion Evander Holyfield, certainly will not be afraid of Tyson.

Holyfield, one of the great warriors of the ring, despite fading skills, is all but set to fight Tyson on November 9th.

Seldon was Tyson's fourth victory since he was paroled in March, 1995. None of the opponents in his comeback have been inspiring. But Seldon made all of them look like champions.

In his first fight since leaving prison, Tyson stopped a game but clueless Peter McNeeley in the first round in August 1995. Tyson followed with a third-round knockout of Buster Mathis Jr in December 1995, and won the World Boxing Council (WBC) title by stopping a reluctant Frank Bruno last March.

"I'm punching pretty hard these days," Tyson said after Saturday's fight. He was fighting and moving so he was hard to hit at first.

"My mode of operation once I get a man hurt is reckless abandon," said Tyson, guaranteed $15 million for facing Seldon.

Seldon won the vacant WBA title in April 1995, stopping a faded Tony Tucker on cuts. Before Saturday, Seldon last fought in August, 1995, when he stopped Joe Hipp, a ponderous punching bag.

Tyson is expected to surrender the WBC title shortly as part of an agreement stemming from a New Jersey lawsuit filed by former WBC champion Lennox Lewis. That likely will set off a series of moves possibly leading to a Tyson-Lewis fight.