EATING CROW IS FINE DINING AFTER UPSET.

Byline: MICHAEL ROSENTHAL

I was wrong in a big way. And I couldn't be happier about it.

I wrote in these pages a week ago that Evander Holyfield had no chance to beat Mike Tyson. Holyfield has the wrong style for Tyson, I wrote in my finite wisdom. Holyfield, I was certain, was punched out.

I wasn't alone. In a survey of 48 boxing writers from across the country, one - Ron Borges of the Boston Globe, an apparent genius - picked Holyfield to win.

As we all know, Holyfield crossed us up on Saturday. More important, he crossed up Tyson and his handlers and the plans they had to make so many millions more, wherein lies my boundless glee over the faulty prediction.

See, justice was served here when the fight was stopped 37 seconds into the 11th round on the historic day. This time, the good guys won.

Throughout Tyson's return to boxing after he was released from prison last year for rape, the arrogance and contempt that he and his co-managers have displayed has been a disgrace to a sport already burdened with an unsavory reputation.

The latest examples surfaced during prefight hype. John Horne, one of Tyson's managers, made a reference to rape when describing what Tyson would do to Holyfield. Rory Holloway, the other manager, suggested Holyfield would be lucky if he weren't killed.

It's no wonder the sellout crowd at the MGM Grand was overwhelmingly in Holyfield's corner.

I must admit that, in the end, Tyson was able to muster some class - as incongruous as that might seem. No. 1, he showed up at the postfight news conference. No. 2, although he seemed dazed and confused, he said the right things: He congratulated his conqueror and made no excuses.

This doesn't change the past, though. He and his handlers - who seem to enjoy mistreating people - permanently alienated many of those in the boxing world and fans with their abhorrent behavior.

There's no way around it. They made themselves the bad guys. As a result, so many whose lives they sullied wished they would simply go away and never return.

And as bad as the Tyson camp was, Holyfield and his people were good. Through all the trash talk, the new champion never fired back. Of course, this is Holyfield: a decent man with love for all who would never meet Tyson and Co. in the gutter.

After the fight, after all the disparaging words, Holyfield held no grudge.

``I never in my life had dislike for Mike Tyson,'' he said. ``This is boxing.''

In a sports world generally devoid of decent role models, who better than Holyfield to serve that function? He's God-fearing, he's decent, he's eternally positive, he's courageous, he works hard and he utterly refuses to give up.

Again, so few gave him a chance to win this fight. At 34, and with so many taxing battles behind him, many even feared for his well-being. So what does he do? He summons more courage, more determination than the rest of the world's heavyweights combined, and does the impossible.

Indeed, even if he had lost, Holyfield is a true champion. He's quite a man.

He did win, though, and wasn't it grand? Especially the way it came down.

Holyfield didn't just beat Tyson. He kicked his you know what. Without the fear that has paralyzed so many in the past, he took Tyson's best punches and gave back more than the ``unbeatable'' champion could take.

It was a brilliant game plan. Holyfield's objective was to keep Tyson at arm's length, where he simply beat Tyson to the punch. And when Tyson worked his way inside, where he normally inflicts the most pain, Holyfield tied him up before he could throw combinations.

As the fight went on, Holyfield's energy level - a huge question mark in light of his past several fights - was never a problem. He threw punches as often and as hard in the 11th as he did in the first.

Meanwhile, Tyson weakened progressively. Early in the fight, he seemed confused by Holyfield's ability to trade punches with him. By midfight, he was beaten mentally; it appeared he knew Holyfield was winning the fight.

And by the end, he was beaten physically. He admitted that he was in good shape - and that he was thoroughly exhausted by the time referee Mitch Halpern mercifully stopped the fight.

``Holyfield is a better fighter than Buster Douglas,'' Tyson said, referring to the fighter who first shocked the world by knocking him out in 1990. ``Against Douglas, I hadn't really trained. In this fight, I was in good shape.''

In the 10th round, when Holyfield first hurt Tyson seriously, the crowd - which cheered his every move throughout the fight - went nuts. And, inside, I did, too.

In the 11th, when Holyfield finished the job, a palpable feeling of exhilaration bounced off the walls of the MGM Grand arena and hit all those who weren't ardent Tyson fans. It had been a marvelous fight, a marvelous night because the right man won.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Evander Holyfield raises his fist after defeating Mike Tyson in their WBA championship bout.

(2) Evander Holyfield, left, lands a left to Mike Tyson's head in early action of their Las Vegas fight. If Tyson came in close, Holyfield tied him up.

Associated Press