BOXING: NORRIS WON'T BITE ON SIDESHOW.

Byline: Michael Rosenthal Staff Writer

Could Mike Tyson and Co. be trying to rattle Orlin Norris, the former heavyweight champion's opponent Saturday in Las Vegas?

First, the bout was changed from 12 to 10 rounds and no one bothered to tell Norris. Then, Tyson said he would bite again under similar circumstances to that of his infamous ear-chomping bout with Evander Holyfield in 1997.

Norris, 34 and a 14-year veteran, isn't fazed.

He joked about the prospect of Tyson chewing off part of his body, saying that if the referee didn't stop the fight immediately, he'd get in his own chomps.

However, in a more serious moment, he said Tyson's unpredictability is no factor.

``It's not going to draw away from what I have to do in the fight,'' he said. ``I'm going to do what I have to do. If he resorts to (unusual tactics), I can't say what's going to happen. I have to see what the referee is going to do, if he's going to do his job, and go from there.''

Norris' handlers were upset that they found out about the change in the number of rounds through the grapevine. Norris, however, doesn't seem to care.

``It doesn't really make a difference to me,'' he said. ``I know I signed a contract for a 12-round fight. And it was never told to me or my people it was changed.''

The important thing to Norris, who will be paid $800,000, is that Tyson selected him for his latest comeback fight. He'd waited his entire career for such an opportunity.

``I was sitting back praying it was me they would pick,'' Norris said. ``I was hoping they would make that mistake and say we want Orlin Norris.''

The fight was originally scheduled for 12 rounds because a minor championship was supposed to be at stake. That later changed.

More biting comment: Tyson said he wasn't serious when he suggested he would bite again if the referee failed to protect him from repeated head butts, which he claims was the case against Holyfield.

He said he was simply trying to sell the fight.

``It's fight talk,'' he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. ``Get the people interested. Make them want to see you do what you do. Have you ever watched wrestling on TV? When you hear Stone Cold Steve Austin say he's going to give the other guy a neck-breaker and do this and do that to him, doesn't it make you want to go out and see the next match or buy the pay-per-view?

``. . . We need to get people out to watch us. That's how we make our living.''

Tyson also dismissed a comment he made that he tried to break the arm of Francois Botha in his last bout, even though it seems clear he did try to hurt Botha.

Enough prison: Tyson, who has had two stints behind bars, said he's had enough.

``You know, I don't ever want to see a courtroom again,'' he said. ``I don't even want to watch on TV and see one of those shows. I don't want nothing to do with prison.

``I don't want any legal situations.''

Too small? One reason Norris is a 12-1 underdog and dismissed as a hand-picked opponent is that he spent much of his career as a cruiserweight.

In fact, he has been at the 190-pound cruiserweight limit in only 12 of his 55 fights.

He went down in weight because he thought that would provide him the best opportunity to win a world championship - and it did - but could not longer make the weight by the end of 1995. His last eight fights have been as a heavyweight.

``I know those comments are out there and they don't really bother me,'' he said. ``I had more than 30 heavyweight fights before I fought as a cruiserweight.

``. . . When I fought as a cruiserweight, I was a very weak man. I had to lose 40 pounds for each fight. I wasn't strong at all.''