Fact is you could have taken just about any round out of this epic and make a case, but out of the twelve, and the twelve that followed in the rematch, round 5 of the first fight is the one that stands out. After using the ring and avoiding the hard-hitting champion for the first four rounds, Pascal switched gears in the 5th and recorded the only knockdown on the night with a short left hand on a backpedaling Diaconu, putting the champion down on his backside. Moments later Diaconu was down again, only this one was ruled a slip. Slip or not, Pascal was quickly taking charge of the round and the fight and did his best to pounce on the opportunity with just over a minute left in the round. But as the round drew to a close, Diaconu came in with a left to the body and a right hand over top that buckled the knees of Pascal and drove him into the corner. Diaconu tried to land the telling shot that would things but couldn’t get the direct hit with time running out and Pascal doing a good job holding on and making it through the final few seconds, staggering backwards as the bell sounded as he tried to make his way back to his corner.

For pure excitement, you won’t get much better than Lucian Bute scoring his knockout over Librado Andrade. A full capacity frenzied crowd, HBO on sight, Bute grabbed the stage and delivered. Andrade had been knocked down before, including once by Bute in their previous fight. Andrade smiled as he was on his hands and knees acknowledged that, “yeah, ya got me.” Most expected the round to play out with Bute putting a 10-8 in the bank and moving on. But instead he delivered his signature shot, a left uppercut to the body, stopping Andrade for the first time and sending the already amped up crowd over the top.