Paulie Ayala knew he had Johnny Tapia the second Tapia shoved him before the opening bell.

That was the psychological advantage Ayala knew would make Tapia trade with him, rather than boxing in a way that would’ve made it tougher for Ayala to win their 12-round bantamweight championship match in June 1999. That tactical edge allowed Ayala to defeat a then-unbeaten Tapia by unanimous decision in a back-and-forth battle that was named “Fight of the Year” by numerous outlets.

Showtime will replay Ayala’s two 12-round points victories over Tapia back-to-back Friday night, starting at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

“I went in as a complete underdog,” Ayala told BoxingScene.com. “I was a 6-1 underdog. Going into the fight, I knew Johnny knew how to box. He was great on his feet, so I needed to get him to sit there and not move as much. I needed to cut him off and try to get him to fight with me.”

Ayala, a southpaw from Fort Worth, Texas, beat Tapia by scores of 116-113, 116-113 and 115-114 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

“After the first three rounds, Freddie Roach was able to get him to regain his composure and get him to box me,” Ayala recalled. “But as he was boxing, I was still catching him with good shots. That’s why he stood there to fight me, because I was catching him with way better shots than he was catching me with. He wanted to prove a point. That’s why I felt he stayed there and fought me. It made it a great fight. Regardless, it was a hard fight.”

Ayala easily out-boxed mandatory challenger Anupong Srisuk in his first defense of the WBA 118-pound title, which took place in October 1999 in Fort Worth. He defeated Tapia again two fights later, but nothing in his career compared to Ayala’s first win against the late legend from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

“That was the biggest fight of my career,” Ayala said. “Your first goal is to become a world champion. By doing that, and by beating an undefeated champion, and a guy that was as popular as Johnny was, that right there was a huge accomplishment. After that, I defended my title against a mandatory contender. But what really highlighted that year was getting the ‘Fighter of the Year’ [from The Ring magazine]. That was when Johnny, Morales and Barrera and De La Hoya and Trinidad, and Mayweather were all in it. And I got ‘Fighter of the Year’ that year. So, for me, that was a great accomplishment.”

Ayala made numerous concessions to secure their rematch in October 2000 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Even though he won their first fight, Ayala took less money than Tapia for their second bout. He also agreed to box Tapia at a catch weight of 124 pounds, two weight classes above the bantamweight limit at which they fought 15 months earlier.

Their 12-round rematch wasn’t as memorable as their initial encounter, but Ayala again won on all three scorecards (116-112, 115-113, 115-113).

“I knew the first fight was a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate,” Ayala said. “I wanted to try to create another fight like that. With our chemistry together, I was hoping we could accomplish that. To me, the outcome of the rematch wasn’t the same.”

Ayala, who will turn 50 on Wednesday, retired following a 10th-round, technical-knockout defeat to Marco Antonio Barrera in June 2004. Along with his wife, Leti, he runs a boxing gym in Fort Worth, where they primarily help Parkinson’s patients and autistic children through therapeutic training sessions.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.