Holyfield beats Rahman in technical decision

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- The old man still has some fight left in him.

Evander Holyfield, showing glimpses of the warrior he was in his prime, pounded Hasim Rahman for most of eight rounds Saturday night before winning a technical decision after a head butt caused a large swelling on Rahman's head.

The end of the fight was anticlimactic, coming on the recommendation of the ring doctor, but Holyfield showed he still had enough at age 39 to fight -- and beat -- a man who was heavyweight champion only seven months ago.

The head butt in the fourth round appeared to cause the mark on Rahman's head, which kept getting bigger and bigger until it had grown grotesquely to nearly the size of a base ball on the top left side of his forehead.

After the fight was halted in the middle of the eighth round, ring doctor Howard Taylor consulted with the referee and declared Rahman couldn't continue, sending the fight to the scorecards.

Two judges had Holyfield winning 69-64, while the third had Rahman ahead 67-66.