Last night in Sin City we saw the confluence of two things which I used to quite enjoy but which have now seen better days… boxing and politics. A while back I wrote about my mostly abandoned love affair with the sweet science, how the sport had fallen on hard times and why the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight wasn’t going to save it. (And given the dismal performance they put on, I’m feeling pretty much justified in that prediction.) As for politics… well, that’s been pretty much on a downhill slide since the disastrous reelection of Nathaniel Tallmadge to the Senate from New York for the Whigs in 1840. (He fled to Wisconsin after that, and good riddance to him.)

Now, after last night’s showing, neither politics nor boxing may ever recover. As you’ll see in the video outtakes below, Romney was clearly the winner. He knocked down the former champ in the first round with a stiff right cross to the head. (Well, he at least appeared to briefly make contact with Holyfield’s head with his glove anyway and the guy took a standing eight count.) Then, in a clever display of footwork – which some skeptical observers have incorrectly termed “running away” – he had tricked the heavyweight into leaning forward in the center of the ring. Unfortunately, some confusion in the Romney corner led to his manager throwing a white towel at the referee, at which point Mitt was summarily declared to have lost the fight.

Romney, 68, and Holyfield, 52, sparred, if you could call it that, for just two short rounds before Romney ran away from the boxer and threw in the towel, giving up a round early in the lighthearted fight that came amid several other fights by professional boxers and an auction.

The two barely threw any punches and largely just danced around, occasionally lightly jabbing each other in the midsection in what was much more of a comedic event than an actual bout.

All kidding aside, it looked like a lot of fun and they raised more than a million dollars for charity. My hat is off to Mitt Romney who is famed for being “stiff” or stodgy and out of touch. He got out there and was willing to make fun of himself while continuing his long tradition of being very generous to those less fortunate. Well played, sir.