Lennox Lewis came, stood still and conquered. Evander Holyfield, the best heavyweight of the 1990s, handed the rights to the undisputed title over on Saturday night in a fight which was short on ceremony but short also on controversy. So it went for what the promoters called the Last Mega Fight of the 20th Century.

Lewis, the torchbearer for the new era, has always been a cautious fighter, slow to anger and reluctant to use the powers which his physique bestows. That style will take some getting used to.

And while the TV moguls were refusing to release figures to Saturday's pay-per-view event, it is known viewing numbers were disappointing. Lewis' style, which looks conservative even in 30-second highlight reels, will perhaps shrink the economies of the heavyweight division. If that coincides with a general clean-up, it won't be a bad thing.

On Saturday night victory was hewn out of a disciplined game plan from which Lewis seldom swerved. He won by responding to Holyfield's feistyness with concise and superior shots of retribution. He landed more jabs and more power punches than Holyfield did over the 12 rounds, and finished the stronger, excelling himself in the closing stages.

"I wasn't hurt," said Lewis later of the middle period of the fight where, especially in rounds six and seven, he appeared to have lost the energy to go on. "I was just playing, because I wanted him to sap his energy a bit, and it worked for a couple because he was breathing hard after that."

As in the first fight last March, the Lewis camp emerged complaining about Holyfield's use of the head. On Saturday again Holyfield tended to lead with his indomitable skull, boring into Lewis again and again as he sought purchase on the inside.. "He was just coming in with his head and trying to get in close with his head," Lewis said. "I was concerned about his head and at the same time backing up and trying to score my points. It was hard for me to register hits even."

As Lewis threw and landed more power punches and jabs, Holyfield withstood the best he could offer. There were moments, especially in the last three rounds, when a lesser fighter than Holyfield might have sought refuge, laying his cheek to the cool of the canvas.

Holyfield had begun the bout in spring-heeled fashion, getting in close to Lewis as promised and taking the squabble to his opponent. Lewis took a while to cotton on that Holyfield was winning most of the close-in exchanges and allowed himself to be dragged into brawls, most notably in the sixth and seventh rounds which, not co-incidentally, Holyfield won.

The seventh was the most memorable round of the 24 which Lewis and Holyfield have fought this year. It ended with a minute-long, toe-to-toe slug-out with both fighters throwing caution to the winds as they struggled to make their scores.

When Lewis remembered himself, he went back to boxing off the back foot, picking his moments with guerilla efficiency.

Holyfield, whose right eye was bruised early on, opened a cut under Lewis' right eye with head contact early in the fifth, prompting a warning from referee Mitch Halpern. Holyfield claimed afterwards that difference of style and height makes such collisions unavoidable.

"I didn't know what the judges were looking for," Lewis said. "I was trying to score my points and bide my time at the same time."

It was a strange end to the odd career of Evander Holyfield. He went out (if indeed he does retire) as he came in, as the feisty underdog. What aggression there was on Saturday came from Holyfield, but the sharp nature of Lewis' ripostes proved costly.

"I feel good," said Lewis, beginning to exult in the glory of being top of the heap. "Don't get no wickeder than this. I was trying to land some heavy shots tonight, we were in closer, but I think I got away enough stuff of my own. He'd watched me on tape and that worked for him for a while, coming to me with the double jab. I won through some combinations and staying on my feet, moving."

Lewis will take some time off before considering a defence, preferably, he says, in Europe sometime in the spring.

Asked if he was about to retire, Holyfield would reply only that he had some praying to do over the issue this winter.