Twenty four hours after HBO broadcast an ugly main event [Hamed vs. Soto] over a brilliant undercard bout [Morales vs. McCullough], rival cable outlet Showtime repeated the protocol precisely. The live main event of Mike Tyson vs. Orlin Norris lasted one round before a controversial ending marred the evening, and Roberto Garcia and Diego Corrales thrilled fans with a surprise, but sublime, ending all it's own. Strap on your cliché helmets, boxing fans...for the next week you won't be able to pick up a publication without reading "another black eye for boxing" .

For the 45th time, but only the eighth time this decade, Mike Tyson entered the ring to do battle. So diminished is his once great career that pundits don't even bother to ask if he can regain his old form, but instead question whether he can even win. This night he was paired with Orlin Norris, the safest possible opponent Team Tyson could get past the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Having lost 60 pounds in training camp, many wondered if the match might be more competitive than originally anticipated.

Tyson charged Norris at the opening bell, minus the punches. Tyson, looking flabby and aged, tossed a couple of jabs at Norris before settling on staring at him instead. Occasionally, Tyson would throw a wild left hook or telegraphed right hand bomb, but even Norris, no spring chicken himself, could see it coming. Tyson has lost many of his finest attributes, including head movement, combination punching, and stamina...but perhaps his most devastating weakness is his loss of handspeed. The heavyweight who once fired off punches like a machine gun now hurls laborious bombs at his opponent one at a time. Tyson didn't come close to landing a single one.

To Norris' credit, he was able to land a few blows on Mike in the opening round. After several hooks to the body on the clinch, a handful of decent jabs that popped Tyson's forehead, and even a couple of headbutts to show he wouldn't back down, Norris was on his way to a 10-9 opening round. But with 16 seconds to go, as referee Richard Steele repeatedly called for a break, Tyson swung three increasingly powerful uppercuts at Norris. Tyson was clearly frustrated that even the small Norris was having success in tying him up, and Richard Steele looked Tyson in the eye and told him "One more time and I'm going to take a point [away]"

Steele called time-in, the fighters came together for one last clinch. While tangled up, the bell to end the round sounded with five consecutive gongs. And then, after the final bell had sounded and with Richard Steele already grabbing Tyson's right shoulder to separate him, Mike Tyson hit Norris on the chin with a left hook. Norris' knees buckled, he dropped straight into a kneeling position, and then slumped onto his back.

For a few moments, Norris was laid out on the canvas, but he raised himself to one knee, then eventually rose on his own and walked himself, without a limp, to his corner. And then the poker game began.

First, Richard Steele went over to Tyson and deducted two points for the foul. That two point deduction seemed to indicate that Steele felt that Tyson had committed the foul intentionally, and that he needed to let Tyson know that his behavior would not be tolerated. After all, an accidental foul would have resulted in only a single point deduction, right?

Meanwhile, Orlin Norris was being advised by his corner to stay put. Claiming that he injured his knee on the knockdown, he sat on his stool with an ice pack and said that he could not continue. Logic would dictate that Mike Tyson would be disqualified for punching after the bell and that Norris would win via DQ. It was Buster Douglas vs. Louis Monaco redux.....except for the decision.

The implications of serving another disqualification on Mike Tyson were obvious, which is why the MGM Grand's boxing ring was soon filled with literally dozens of uniformed police officers. The standoff was made: Norris feeling he should deserve the DQ, and Nevada unsure of how to treat one of the sport's biggest money makers.

Nearly 10 minutes after the fight ended, Jimmy Lennon announced that the fight had been ruled a "no contest" due to an "accidental foul". Both fighters left the ring to a chorus of "boo"s. But minutes later, NSAC executive Marc Ratner was telling ringsiders that the Nevada Commission would review the tapes, hold Mike Tyson's purse, and expect Tyson or a representative to explain his actions. Could the ruling be reversed to a DQ? Stay tuned.

DQ or No Contest, this is another disaster for Mike Tyson. Showtime had kept Tyson off pay-per-view in an effort to revive his plummeting draw power. Now, despite the fact that not all of the blame for this incident lies on his shoulders, he has only worsened his situation. His next fight can't possibly be a pay-per-view event, as a December 11 date was scheduled to be. His reputation as a dirty fighter, as a shot fighter, and as a practitioner of controversy instead of fighting is only more cemented now. While members of both fighter's camps were quick to talk about a rematch, it's difficult to imagine anyone caring enough to tune in. Tyson can't fight, or at least fight clean, and Norris will be labeled a dog. Everybody loses.

Luckily for the celebrities and luminaries seated in the expensive seats, the fight that preceded it was an action packed battle with a dramatic reversal of fortune ending.

IBF 130 lb. champion Roberto Garcia put his undefeated record on the line against #1 contender, and also unbeaten, Diego Corrales. Despite giving up several inches of height and reach to the challenger, Garcia wasted no time asserting himself in the opening round. As Corrales only watched, Garcia lead with left hooks and fired powerful leaping straight right hands, landing frequently and effectively. Corrales did not offer up his jab, and Garcia had so little trouble reaching him that in between rounds he asked his corner for permission to try for a knockout. His corner gave him the green light, and Garcia set out to end the matter at hand.

Now attacking without reservation, Garcia upped the beating on Corrales in the second and third rounds. Battering the passive Corrales with combinations, Garcia was letting his hands go all over his opponent's body. Roberto sunk his fists into Corrales sides and cracked the challenger's head with a redundant left hook. Diego demonstrated a fantastic chin, but was absorbing too many blows to last much longer. Something needed to happen, and it did.

Near the end of the third round, the two fighters clashed heads. Garcia came away with a small cut on the outside corner of his right eye. As blood streaked a thick line down his face, Garcia began fighting with even more urgency, wobbling Corrales with a right to the head, left to the body, left to the head, right to the body combination. Garcia's attack was relentless, but increasingly wild, and by the end of the fifth, Corrales finally began countering and finding his target. It was about time, as Garcia's hook had badly swollen the challenger's right eye and cheek.

Waking up out of his coma in the fifth, Corrales began the sixth by letting his hands go. For the first time, his long jab was thrown across the distance, and it opened up the holes of Garcia's reckless assaults. As the two men exchanged freely, Corrales landed two left hooks that hurt Garcia. Although Roberto remained upright, he was clearly on unsteady legs as the war continued. Garcia masked the trouble he was in by loading up with more left hooks, but the offense only gave Corrales more chances, and after a minute of pursuing the wobbly champion, Corrales dropped him with a short right-left-right at center ring.

Garcia beat the count, and hoped to make it to the end of the round. But with a minute to go, Corrales used the remaining time to battle a wobbly Garcia across the ring from one corner to another. With 11 seconds before the bell, Corrales fired a picture perfect straight right down the pike that snapped Garcia's head back and had him seeing stars. Yet somehow, the champion had the presence of mind to take a knee. Resting on one knee cost him another point, but allowed him an eight count to clear his head, and buy enough time to make it back to his corner for a one minute rest.

One minute wasn't enough time, however, and Garcia began the seventh round on rubber legs and quickly had Corrales in his face. Seconds into the seventh, Corrales repeated his devastating straight right, and not only did Garcia's head fly back, but his legs snapped out from under him and he dropped onto his back by the ropes. Referee Joe Cortez didn't even need to begin the count, and young Diego Corrales had won his first world championship.

Overjoyed, the humble Corrales (29-0/24) openly cried as his cornermen lifted him into the air. Clutching his new championship belt after the fight, Corrales admitted that he was so nervous that he couldn't throw any punches for the first several rounds. Finally Garcia's power woke him up, and soon after he found himself a kayo winner. There are some good paydays ahead for this rising star. A rematch with Garcia, a Roy Jones undercard showdown with Derrick Gainer, or even a big step up to unify with Floyd Mayweather are all lucrative possibilities for the Sacramento, CA native. If he can overcome the butterflies he may find his height and reach will lead him to some successful title defenses.

And so, the best and worst of boxing were once again on display: the beauty of a come-from-behind victory and the beginning of a new title reign, and the continuing controversy of the Mike Tyson sideshow. Boxing needs a bit more of the former and a little less of the latter. With the stage now set for Holyfield-Lewis II, the real question is not "who will win" but "can they pull it off without incident". Time will tell.

.....Chris Bushnell