IN THE aftermath of Saturday night, the only argument left was not whether there is a boxer alive who can match Mike Tyson, but whether Mike Tyson can match Mike Tyson. Is the second edition as good as the first?

Not yet. Even at 75 per cent power however, Tyson had far too much for feckless Frank Bruno who came to town, talked a very good fight and then fought an exceedingly dumb one.

Tyson for his part was fast, aggressive and looked to have better timing and range on his punches than he did when fighting Buster Mathis in his second comeback fight last year. From early on he was connecting with Bruno's stationary upper body and head at will.

Bruno had worn his game plan on his sleeve for quite some time. His triumphant accession to the WBC title last year had seen him refine his jab and make the startling discovery that he had the use of his feet at the same time as he had the use of his hands. He was going to dance, use his range, mix his punches. As he said, he was going to put Mike Tyson in Don King's lap."

It was possible indeed, with Tyson distracted, unhappy and training poorly, to believe that Bruno might just do that. He had hit Tyson hard back in 1989 after all, he looked like a better and stronger fighter this time around and Tyson has had less then 10 minutes in the ring in the last five years.

A few seconds of the grim reality which unspooled after the first bell on Saturday was enough to banish that daydream. Bruno fought with the composure of a rabbit hoping to stare down an oncoming juggernaut.

Right from the start Bruno was sucked towards Tyson as if the former world champion radiated the pull of gravity. Tyson expressed his respect for Bruno, by, making it clear that he didn't believe that Essex man possessed a punch capable of knocking him out. While Bruno wound up some huge ponderous punches which a tree would have been able to get out of the way of, Tyson scored heavily with a series of devastating overhead rights mixed with a few left uppercuts.

"Mike Tyson was a bit better than I thought," commented hapless Frank afterwards. A miscalculation of that sort was always bound to be painful and costly. Tyson was quicker and more aggressive than he had been in either of his two fights since his release from prison and the ferocity of his early attacks clearly shocked Bruno.

Bruno never found a rhythm and never unleashed any of the variety of punches he displayed in winning the world title last year. He marched high headed and straight into the propellers of a furiously delivered right at the very start and was instantly shredded.

By the end of the first round, a high straight right from Tyson had opened up a severe cut above Bruno's left eye and a series of other blows had rocked Bruno. Tyson was getting in close, inflicting some punishment and then, well, staying in close and afflicting some more punishment.

Bruno said afterwards in explaining why he had got so perilously close to his opponent, that he had been trying to use his weight against Tyson. To the rest of the world however, he looked like an honest plodder hanging on for dear life, hoping that hugging Tyson would delay the inevitable.

In the second round Bruno incurred a one point penalty for holding and who could blame him for resorting to that tactic. Almost at the outset of the round he had been badly shaken by a huge left hook from Tyson. Bruno's old failing of freezing in times of adversity came back to haunt him and he stood transfixed for a few seconds, absorbing further punishment to the ribs and head, before adequate evasive action was taken.

By the time Bruno found the sanctuary of his corner at the end of the second, there was a sense that the show was almost over.

Tyson later recalled his short night's work as a spurt of concentrated aggression. "I was just throwing punches, it wasn't open a lot so I was just throwing all kinds of punches"

So it was. He found sufficient opening early in the third to hit Bruno hard in the ribs, following through with a swift left upper cut. As Bruno absorbed the shock, Tyson moved inside and delivered 11 blows in rapid succession to finish Bruno off. Among that blizzard of blows were two uppercuts to the head and a series of crushing body punches.

Bruno fell against the ropes. Tyson dropped to his knees and offered thanks to his god. The post fight press conference was then cancelled with Bruno being brought to the hospital for an examination of the cut above his eye and with Tyson being disinclined to speak with the media.

The emphatic, crushing nature of Tyson's victory ended an adventure.

From the Bruno camp the early indications were that having surrendered his crown in the course of one last modest payday, Bruno will now retire.

Bruno commented afterwards that the result bad left him a little bit heartbroken" yet one sensed in him a realisation that boxing has, to mix metaphors in a Bruno like manner, given him a good innings. Not many fighters get four cracks at winning a world title for the first time, fewer still survive long stints playing panto dames, very few are allowed back to fight for world championships after incurring a detached retina.

Tyson is expected to fight Bruce Seldon, holder of another brand of heavyweight title in Las Vegas early this summer, although Lennox Lewis, who won a lawsuit in New Jersey last Friday to the effect that he had been wrongfully denied first crack at Bruno, is bound to insist on figuring somewhere in the shake up, as is the former champion Riddick Bowe, who is currently involved in legal disputation with the media roguls from HBO.

Whoever Tyson's next opponent may be, the stated objective remains the re unification of the three world heavyweight championships. By the time that happens, Tyson should be well on the way to fulfilling Don King's claim that he will be the first billion dollar athlete.

Elsewhere on the bill on Saturday night, Ricardo Lopez the heroic Mexican fighter, broke a record for successful defences of any boxing title, retaining his WBC strawweight belt with a knockout of Ala Villamor in the eighth round. It was Lopez's fifteenth straight defence of his title and his 42nd bout undefeated. Never having made a pay packet greater than $100,000 the Mexican is expected to move up a weight class in the hope that his wages will do likewise.