CHARLES BARKLEY, sued for his role in a fight in a Cleveland bar, jumped past bouncers to repeatedly punch a man who was acting as a peacemaker during an argument about a woman, a lawyer said yesterday in opening statements.

Earlier in the day, Barkley had mouthed an expletive to the plaintiff, JEB TYLER, 24, of Spencerport, N.Y., before prospective jurors were led into the courtroom.

The scuffle happened last summer at the Basement, a Cleveland nightclub, when Barkley was in town with the United States Olympic basketball team. Barkley has told the police that he was the one who was attacked, and a defense lawyer said his Olympic teammate REGGIE MILLER would testify that Tyler threw the first punch.