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 Seldon Returns to The Scene of His Greatest Disaster Saturday
By Thomas Gerbasi (May 11, 2004)
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For most of the world, September 7, 1996 was the day that Hip-Hop icon Tupac Shakur was shot by an unknown assailant on the Las Vegas strip shortly after he attended the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon heavyweight championship fight. Shakur died six days later.
The death of Seldon’s career didn’t take that long. It was pretty much finished after 1:49 of the first round against Tyson, when referee Richard Steele stopped the fight as a wide-eyed Seldon stumbled back into a corner after two questionable knockdowns.
It was the type of loss that is nearly impossible to recover from, because while there’s no shame in getting knocked out, getting psyched out is a mortal sin in this game, and Seldon’s body language left no question that the aura of “Iron Mike” had gotten into his head.
On Saturday, Seldon, in the third fight of a comeback he began in March, will return to Las Vegas for the first time since the Tyson bout to battle unbeaten prospect Gerald Nobles on the Roy Jones-Antonio Tarver II undercard. One would think that there are a few mixed emotions being experienced by the 37-year-old.
“Not at all,” Seldon told the media during a teleconference Monday. “I’m just ready to get back out here and get myself back in fighting condition.”
Seldon has scored two wins on the comeback trail, knocking out serviceable journeyman Otis Tisdale in March, and former middleweight Lenzie Morgan in April (the less said about that mismatch the better). Neither should prepare him adequately for the hard-punching Nobles (22-0, 17 KOs), who was last seen in need of some sit-ups while blasting out Willie Williams on the April 17 Golota-Byrd undercard, and is no young gun himself at 33.
But if Seldon can pull off the upset, it will be the first step in rehabilitating an image shattered not only by the loss to Tyson, but by a disturbing conviction in 1998 on two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, which stemmed from an incident where Seldon admitted to smoking marijuana and taking part in “sexual activity” with a 15-year-old girl.
“The eight-year layoff, I was emotionally going through some situations with that old case that I had, and that just diminished my personality,” said Seldon. “So I decided to stay in a shell and do nothing. And then over the years, as I weeded my way out, people started to like me again so I just said, maybe if I started fighting again, people will think I’m a better person.”
So he answered the call of the ring, the bane of every fighter’s existence.
“I just miss it, I really do,” said Seldon. “I enjoy being back up in that crowd and doing what I love to do. And boxing’s what I love to do. Fighting is what I love to do, so that’s what’s bringing me back.”
Having come up the hard way, which included serving four and a half years for armed robbery as a teenager, the Atlantic City, NJ native got on the straight and narrow in 1987 and put his energies into boxing.
Blessed with a great jab, as well as decent power and speed, Seldon won his first 18 bouts before being knocked out in consecutive fights by Oliver Mc Call (KO by 9) and Riddick Bowe (KO by 1) in 1991. Seldon would lose only once more (L10 Tony Tubbs in 1992) before the Tyson fight, along the way scoring 15 wins, 14 by knockout.
One of those wins was against another talented heavyweight of the “lost” generation, Tony Tucker. The seventh round TKO in April of 1995 earned Seldon the WBA heavyweight title. It also made him the perfect fodder for Tyson, who was released from prison just a month before “The Atlantic City Express” won his crown.
Seldon would defend his title once, a tenth round TKO of Joe Hipp, before being led to the slaughter against Tyson. And while few expected Seldon to win, most expected him to at least be competitive. But one look in his eyes, and it was obvious that Seldon would have rather been anywhere but in that MGM Grand ring. It’s been reported that he sobbed in distress in his locker room after the fight, and to this day, it’s still a sore subject with him.
“I’d rather not talk about what happened a long time ago,” said Seldon. “That’s eight years ago and that’s all behind me right now.”
What’s ahead of him is a chance to let the world know he’s back by beating Nobles on Saturday. Fortunately, he’s not deluding himself into unrealistic expectations.
“I’m just going on,” he said. “I can’t put no time limit on that. I’m just gonna go on, and however long I can last, that’s how long I can last. Right now, I feel great. That’s why I’m doing it.”
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E-Mail  Thomas Gerbasi at tgerbasi@mindspring.com
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