Date: Sunday, November 10th, 1996

In case you weren't sure, you now know why they bother to fight the fight.

In a prefight media poll, 46 of 47 writers picked Mike Tyson to defeat Evander Holyfield. Ron Borges of the Boston Globe, the only scribe to offer a minority opinion, is now the smartest man in America.

Winning the WBA heavyweight title in a fight that instantly became part of boxing history, Evander Holyfield, who opened as an 18-1 underdog, stopped Mike Tyson in the 11th round at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

Fans who were hoping to finally see Tyson in a fight couldn't have expected this good a fight. Holyfield was clearly energized by the crowd and the moment, and he looked a winner all the way.

Where do we sign up for the rematch?

So many keys to victory, so many observations ...

Holyfield started quickly, as if he believed an early-rounds kayo was his best chance to win. He was quicker to the punch, and with an over-anxious Tyson continually leading, "The Real Deal" continually countered with right hands. In fact, all fight long, almost every time Tyson landed a right, Holyfield countered with one of his own.

When Tyson rallied in the fourth and fifth, punching to the body and countering strongly, it seemed the challenger was spent. But with the crowd chanting "Holyfield! Holyfield!", the underdog regained the bounce in his legs. In the sixth, Holyfield countered with a half-hook, half-uppercut, and Tyson went down. It was the second knockdown of "Iron Mike's" career, and the first time he picked himself up. He never again looked like a potential winner.

Tyson was undoubtedly hurt by the fact that he hadn't received serious competition since his two fights with Razor Ruddock in 1991. As the rounds mounted, he was able to do nothing more than bomb away with single punches, then fall into clinches. Absent was the head movement that marked his first title reign. He tried to rally, but like so many pure punchers, he found himself lacking in the later rounds.

Still, the surprise was not what Tyson failed to do, but what Holyfield was able to do. In his rubber match against Riddick Bowe, Holyfield was unable to pull the trigger on the punch that would likely have finished his rival. This time, when he staggered Tyson with a counter right late in the 10th, he found the energy to fire several follow-up blows. To his credit, Tyson made it to the bell--barely--but he was through, and after Holyfield launched another furious flurry at the start of the 11th, referee Mitch Halpern wisely intervened.

Simply put, Holyfield's performance was passionate.

As I exited the arena, I saw fans seemingly frozen in a state of shock. No one could believe what had happened, with the exception, of course, of the smartest man in America.

As it turned out, this fight wasn't made five years too late. Instead, it came at just the right time, for Evander Holyfield and for boxing.