HOLYFIELD TRIES TO KEEP IT CLEAN : LOW BLOWS COME EARLY FROM TYSON'S CORNER.

Byline: MICHAEL ROSENTHAL

So far, Evander Holyfield has handled himself like . . . well, Evander Holyfield. With aplomb.

Of course, the same can't be said of his Nov. 9 opponent, World Boxing Association champion Mike Tyson, and his sorry entourage.

Tyson doesn't like Holyfield, and apparently hasn't for quite some time. According to Tyson, Holyfield only made matters worse when the latter said during the former's rape trial, ``I wouldn't fight a rapist.''

Holyfield remembers it this way: ``The only thing I can remember is that at some point I was asked if I would fight him if he was convicted, and I said, `If he's not convicted, why worry about it, but if he is convicted, how could I fight someone if they were convicted and in jail.'

``That was pretty much it. . . . I wasn't (at the site of the rape). I'm just like everybody else. I don't know.''

Not good enough for Tyson.

At the news conference immediately after Tyson knocked out Bruce Seldon last month, with Holyfield sitting only a podium away, the champion began taking his shots.

``You got nothing coming. You got nothing coming. I'm going to enjoy this fight,'' Tyson said, meaning he plans to hurt Holyfield and revel in it.

At a more recent news conference in New York, Tyson's people turned the city's posh Rainbow Room into a gutter with their vile talk.

John Horne, one of Tyson's managers, reportedly promised that ``the only rape will be in the ring.''

Holyfield's response? Typical.

In New York, he retorted simply, ``You still got to fight,'' his way of dismissing the comments.

Later he was more philosophical, even generous.

``That's the game of boxing,'' he said. ``They could use better judgment with that. You would think that with what he has done in the ring, that wouldn't even have to come up. You don't have to hype a fight when you have the best guys there.''

Don't get Holyfield wrong.

The former two-time world champion speaks responsibly, but he certainly isn't passive. On the contrary, he is abundantly optimistic and isn't afraid to express it.

Several reporters have asked whether he might fight cautiously in the early rounds in an effort to wear Tyson down. Holyfield rejected the notion.

``That's a losing mentality,'' he said. ``I would not have anybody tell me how to take him into the later rounds. . . . Most people don't make it to the later rounds thinking that way.''

He went on: ``The difference between a winner and a loser is a winner will take a chance to win and a loser won't. A loser just worries about defense and hopes that a guy will fall out and have something happen on his behalf while he is not doing anything.''

Holyfield is a winner, which means we could be in for an entertaining fight - at least for a while.

His own man: A lot of people were saddened by Holyfield's decision to fight Tyson.

And for good reason. For whatever reason, he has looked anemic in his several fights. That's not the ideal condition in which to step into the ring with a monster like Tyson.

Holyfield will hear none of this.

Asked when it will be time to retire, he said: ``With me, I realize that as an athlete, you have a window of opportunity that will close with time and one has to do all that they can when that window is open, because at some point in time, (it) will close.

``I make my decisions with my life and the things that I'm going to do.''

Rabbit punches: Assuming Tyson beats Holyfield and IBF champion Michael Moorer takes care of Francois Botha on the undercard, Tyson will face Moorer next.

If Tyson wins that fight, he'd have two-thirds of the major titles: WBA and IBF. Sometime soon, Lennox Lewis will fight Oliver McCall for the vacant WBC championship.

If McCall can beat Lewis as he did the first time the two met - and he probably won't - look for Tyson to unify the titles against McCall. Tyson lost the unified title when he was knocked out by Buster Douglas in 1990.

Another heavyweight champion, WBO title-holder Henry Akinwande, defends against Alexander Zolkin on the Nov. 9 card. . . .

One way or another, WBC super featherweight champion Azumah Nelson's defense against Genaro Hernandez early next year - the fight was postponed because Nelson broke his hand - will be his last at that weight.

That could open a door for former champion Gabriel Ruelas. As the No. 2 contender, he could face No. 1 Anatoly Alexandrov of Kazakhstan for the vacant title in mid-1997. . . .

Forum Boxing, which promotes WBO junior featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera, has Kennedy McKinney and Naseem Hamed of England on its ``A'' list of possible opponents - assuming Barrera beats Junior Jones on the undercard of the Roy Jones-Mike McCallum card on Nov. 22 in Florida.

Barrera-Hamed would be a big one, but talks have moved slowly.

``They're catching hell over there (in England),'' said John Jackson, head of Forum Boxing. ``People are asking, `Why aren't you fighting Barrera?' Their response is, `We want to, we're making offers.'

``Talk is cheap, though. We don't know if it's rhetoric or whether they're serious. . . . They're doing well (financially) without Naseem fighting Barrera.''

Barrera stopped McKinney in the 12th round of a memorable fight in February at the Forum.

The rematch, likely at the Forum, could be Barrera's next fight. . . .

Another Forum fighter, IBF flyweight champion Mark Johnson, has had the cast removed from his broken hand and is expected to get back into the ring soon.

Johnson broke his hand in training shortly after it was announced he would fight Alejandro Montiel. That fight was canceled.

COMING UP

Today: At Forum - Vince Phillips vs. Victor Perez in a 10-round welterweight fight; Bolillo Gonzalez vs. Mark Lewis in a 10-round junior welterweight bout.

Tuesday: At Tunica, Miss. - Lou Del Valle vs. Thomas Reid in a 10-round light-heavyweight bout.

Friday: At Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio - Danny Romero Jr. vs. Hipolito Saucedo in a 12-round bout for Romero's IBF super-flyweight title.

Saturday: At Tokyo - George Foreman vs. Crawford Grimsley in a 12-round bout for Foreman's WBU and IBA heavyweight titles.

CAPTION(S):

Photo, Box

Photo: (color) Evander Holyfield is avoiding verbal jabs with Mike Tyson before their fight.

Daily News File Photo

Box: COMING UP (see text)