Boxing: Don Turner did not like what he was seeing. Only the most callous James Toney supporters could enjoy the one-sided destruction of Evander Holyfield

For most of the crowd of 7,897 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center and the millions watching on television, it was reminiscent of the relentless beating Muhammad Ali took from Larry Holmes.

As Holyfield's longtime trainer, Turner could do something about it. He stopped the bout in the ninth round, along with perhaps one of the greatest careers in boxing history.

"No, I'm not going to retire," said Holyfield, two weeks shy of his 41st birthday. "I'm going back to he drawing board. I'm supposed to finish on top."

But after Saturday night's performance, it was clear Holyfield is no longer a major player in the heavyweight division and would be unable to command commensurate paydays.

He said he would look at tapes of his beating - and he acknowledged "Toney beat me up" - and if he thought he couldn't improve, that would be that. If not, Turner said he would be there with him again, though he had kept warning Holyfield to "show me something or I'm going to throw in the towel".

In the ninth, the battering grew worse. Toney (35), who boxed brilliantly even considering his ageing opposition, switched fulltime to the body.

In the sixth round, a left hook to the ribs had Holyfield nearly doubled over in pain. His guard had gone down and Toney was content to fire rapid combinations to the head, while never forgetting to remind Holyfield of the pain in his body. In the ninth, another hook to the side had Holyfield floundering along the ropes.

A lesser hook sent the reeling Holyfield down. He beat the count of the referee, Jay Nady, but a moment later there was Turner, following a Nevada commission inspector into the ring. He had told the inspector to stop it. The inspector grabbed the trainer's towel and rushed up the steps. It was over at 1:42 of the ninth round.

"Don Turner did what he felt he had to do," said Holyfield, now 38-7-2, but only 2-4-2 in his last eight fights.

"I know I'm going to be crucified by the naysayers who say he always comes back," said Turner, who in fact will be venerated for his actions, similar to the late Eddie Futch refusing to let Joe Frazier fight the 15th round against Ali in 1975.

"But I love him dearly. If he fights again, I'll probably be with him because somebody else might not be so passionate. It could've been worse. I've seen four deaths in the ring. I know what can happen."

Toney, who at 157 lb won a middleweight title 12 years ago, was 60 lb heavier than Holyfield. But even so, he was much quicker than the four-time heavyweight champion and had little trouble breaking him.

Toney has always been strong defensively. That helped him add a supermiddleweight title and, last April, the International Boxing Federation cruiserweight championship.

He said he would fight "anybody, anywhere, anytime", but wanted the biggest fight of all, Mike Tyson. His promoter, Dan Goossen, has been in contact with Tyson's lawyer, Steve Espinoza, about such a fight.

Toney also said he would like to drop weight and make a cruiserweight defence. Roy Jones Jr, the World Boxing Association's heavyweight champion, jumped into the ring after the fight and was seen talking to Goossen.

Holyfield was not talking about future opponents. He talked of being confounded by Toney, "waiting to figure out how to hit him and by the time I figured it out, he hit me".

Goossen later told Holyfield: "Whatever you decide to do, you've been a great asset to our industry."