Bruce Seldon: Give him a break

Seldon, an accomplished heavyweight boxing champion (29 KOs), who trained for 12 weeks in an attempt to grab Tyson's belt, has become the talk of the world, and rich. More to the point, he is fully intact and remains a dynamo, to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Seldon's fans tend to forget that he went into the ring with a burden: James Douglas Buster knocked out Tyson; but the boxing world called Buster a one-time bum. Buster did not, to the disappointment of Seldon, disprove it. Even when Tyson was defeated, he burned-out the winner. So, Seldon concluded, he was doomed even if he won. That made him do something revolutionary. Instead of the throwing in the towel, he threw in the belt for US$5 million. After all, Seldon insists, boxing is not a sport; it's a multimillion dollar business riding on suckers.

Seldon pulled the $5 million belt-for-purse caper in less than two minutes. He took a ingenious dive.

Seldon comes through as a super guy. He played his part in front of the cameras, indeed, in front of the whole world, without any pretence. When a reporter needled him, Seldom was disarmingly truthful: "You don't know nothing about Tyson. He is a mad, bad man."

Seldon also predicts that he will be soon in the good company of Dick Morris, President Clinton's guru. Dick quit his job because of an affair with a call girl. Dick can be considered as a fallen Samson. Samson lost his power and strength after the Philistine seductress Delilah cut his hair. Samson was cruelly put down. Dick, the new American Samson, is upbeat. It is reported that he has signed a contract to write a book. Seldon is hoping that Dick will do business brazenly and unorthodox, and make Seldon look like a kid.

We have to admit that Seldon did what he had to. Business, $5 million, came first. He was not counting on a weird looking belt to make his day.

G.S. EDWIN

Jakarta