Over the next couple of weeks, BoxingScene writers are listing their favorite fights. Some are fights they attended, some are not. Some are included because they were epic contests, others because they involve a favorite fighter, a favorite moment or hold some kind of special significance.

Just like my old podcast partner Kieran Mulvaney, I’m bending the framing of this “My Favorite Fight” series ever so slightly to avoid writing for the umpteenth time about a fight I’ve already dissected in [whatever number comes before umpteen] different ways.

I was ringside at Mohegan Sun for the first fight between Micky Ward and Arturo Gatti, and that will always be my actual favorite fight. But it wasn’t necessarily my favorite fight night.

That’s because I also had the privilege of a press row seat on Nov. 6, 1999, in the small room at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, for an HBO “Boxing After Dark” heavyweight doubleheader that packed the ultimate one-two punch – both figuratively and literally.

Seven days before the Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield rematch to determine the rightful undisputed heavyweight champ, four big men who stood a pace or two outside the title picture found themselves with opportunities to inject themselves into the mix.

There was Hasim Rahman, a legit contender, 11 months removed from his highly controversial stoppage loss to David Tua and otherwise unbeaten.

There was Russia’s Oleg Maskaev, two-and-a-half years removed from his own dramatic late-stoppage loss to Tua, riding a seven-fight win streak and ready to sub in against “The Rock” for short money.

There was Derrick Jefferson, an undefeated, unproven raw slugger who had transitioned in his mid-20s from football and basketball to boxing.

And there was Maurice Harris, almost assuredly the best 16-9-2 boxer in the world, on a seven-fight win streak – just like Maskaev – and eager to step in on short notice, also just like Maskaev.

At one point, the card was supposed to be Rahman versus Zeljko Mavrovic and Jefferson versus Lance Whitaker. In retrospect, I’m glad we got Maskaev-Rahman and Jefferson-Harris.

I can’t say for sure how thrilling the original lineup would have been, but chances are it wouldn’t have provided the Knockout of the Year, a strong runner-up for Knockout of the Year, a top contender for Round of the Year, a 234lbs man almost landing in Jim Lampley’s lap, a miniature riot and a declaration of love from Larry Merchant.

For back-to-back fights I’ve watched live, nothing compares to Jefferson KO6 Harris and Maskaev KO8 Rahman.

And it’s worth noting that they were both scheduled 10-rounders, with no manufactured alphabet titles on the line – something these slugfests have in common with my actual fave fight, Ward-Gatti I.

Not only was this Atlantic City doubleheader an appetizer for Lewis-Holyfield II, but it was governed by rules shaped by Lewis-Holyfield I. “Majority scoring” was in effect, meaning instead of three separate scorecards at the end, there would be one score, with each round awarded to the boxer who wins it on at least two of the three cards.

This was one of a handful of knee-jerk reactions to the outrageous draw at New York’s Madison Square Garden on March 13, 1999, which would have been a 115-113 win for Lewis had majority scoring been in use.

It was all for naught on this “B.A.D.” card, though. None of the fighters had much interest in hearing scorecards read.

Jefferson-Harris came first, and over the first couple of rounds, we learned three things about Jefferson, the former Cumberland College basketball player from Michigan: He liked to rumble, he could bomb with the left hook, and his chin was about as sturdy as a glass backboard with young Shaquille O’Neal hanging from the rim.

Jefferson dropped Harris with a vicious hook about midway through the second round. A minute later, another hook, another knockdown. Then Harris got up and clocked Jefferson with a left hook of his own mere seconds later, sending Jefferson sprawling to the canvas.

It was that kind of round. It was going to be that kind of fight.

The pace didn’t slow much over the next three rounds, but both men managed to stay on their feet throughout them. Then came the sixth.

Harris, who took the fight on just two weeks’ notice, was tiring. With just under a minute to go in the round, Jefferson sent him to the canvas again with a right and left to the body. The talented young journeyman from New Jersey just barely beat the count. He looked ready to pack it in. So, naturally, a few seconds later, he cracked Jefferson with a left to the chin, and suddenly the bigger man’s legs were gone.

Who needs legs, though, when you have in your holster the left hook of a lifetime?

As Harris wound up for a hook, Jefferson – basically with his eyes closed, detonating bombs on pure instinct – uncorked one with as forceful a twisting of the hips as you’ll ever see.

Mouthpiece ejected. Body limp. Lights out. And five words from Merchant: “Derrick Jefferson, I love you!”

It was the wildest heavyweight war I have ever witnessed in person – still, 26 years later.

And the night was far from over.

Fifteen minutes into Rahman’s 27th birthday – “Boxing After Dark” usually did go down long after nightfall in those days, and in this case the co-feature ended right around midnight on the East Coast – The Rock made his way to the ring.

There waiting for him was Maskaev, who stepped in about a month earlier when Mavrovic exited because of a knee injury. According to trainer Bob Jackson, Maskaev was offered $150,000 for the fight. He said yes. Then, according to Jackson, the Rahman camp decided Maskaev was too dangerous. They lowered their offer to $100,000. Maskaev, at Jackson’s urging, again said yes. That’s how confident they were about this matchup.

In introducing Rahman, ring announcer Mark Beiro communicated the fact that the A-side from Baltimore was still regarded by some as an undefeated boxer. His record: “Thirty-one victories, one controversial loss, 26 wins coming by way of knockout.”

Maskaev-Rahman was a high-impact heavyweight battle from the start, but I remember being in the arena and struggling to focus and appreciate it early on, such was the lingering high from Jefferson-Harris. We were watching two slow-fisted, competitively matched, fairly skillful big men banging away on each other, but because nobody was getting dropped or badly wobbled, it felt ho-hum compared to the obscenely violent drama we had just witnessed.

But the fact is, Maskaev-Rahman was an outstanding fight that gradually built in intensity. People mostly just remember the ending. But before that, there was action and blood – and strategic maneuvering that’s easier to appreciate in hindsight, as Rahman leaned to his right when he jabbed and you could see Maskaev searching for the angle and the timing to make him pay with a right hand over the top.

Through seven physical rounds, Rahman led 68-65 on two cards and a ludicrous 70-63 on the third. It could arguably have been as close as 67-66 Rahman. But whatever the case, Maskaev was behind.

Then he hurt Rahman with a right hand in the eighth. The Russian knew damage had been done and kept throwing. Rahman leaned on the ropes, moved, held. He had the right instincts, trying to kill a little clock until he was cobweb-free.

But he paused near the ropes with his chin exposed for just an instant as he extended a half-hearted jab, and Maskaev got through with one more right hand. The Rock sank like a stone.

He went through the ropes, more or less head-first to the arena floor, just missing Lampley and the HBO broadcast table.

And then Boardwalk Hall began vibrating. The Rahman faithful were some combination of angry, concerned and confused, and we could feel the floor and tables rumbling in the press section as, to our right, there was shoving, trampling and at least one chair flying through the air – clunking referee Steve Smoger, the man who had presided over Jefferson-Harris a short while earlier, on the head.

It didn’t quite expand into a full-scale riot. Order was restored, Maskaev was declared the winner by eighth-round knockout. To this day, BoxRec says the time was 40 seconds of the round, which is not remotely accurate; Rahman went through the ropes with 1:12 remaining on HBO’s clock. I guess that’s what happens when a 234lbs man wipes out the timekeeper’s equipment.

Maskaev’s early Sunday punch might have been the Knockout of the Year if not for Jefferson securing that honor very late that Saturday night. And the second frame of Jefferson-Harris might have been the Round of the Year had Oscar De La Hoya and Ike Quartey not traded knockdowns in the sixth round of a much more significant fight earlier in 1999.

Were either Jefferson-Harris or Maskaev-Rahman, taken individually, my all-time favorite fight? No.

But the 14 rounds of insanity they provided in a single unforgettable evening stack up pretty well against 10 rounds of Ward-Gatti or anything else I’ve ever seen in a boxing ring.

Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with nearly 30 years of experience covering the sport for such outlets as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, and The Ring (where he served as managing editor for seven years). He also co-hosted The HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Theory. He has won three first-place writing awards from the BWAA, for his work with The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Outside boxing, he is the senior editor of CasinoReports and the author of 2014’s The Moneymaker Effect. He can be reached on X, BlueSky, or LinkedIn, or via email at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com.