Three words summarized the in-ring philosophy of Jason Litzau, Jose Andres Hernandez, Edison Miranda and Willie Gibbs, the same three words that made Saturday a promising night for viewers of HBO's "Boxing After Dark." All year, the network had promised that "Boxing After Dark" would return to its roots, back to the combustible matchmaking that defined the franchise and made stars out of Arturo Gatti and Marco Antonio Barrera. Instead sometimes incidentally, sometimes intentionally the show degenerated into bouts that were either aesthetically displeasing or blatant showcases.

For every Jhonny Gonzalez-Fernando Montiel or Acelino Freitas-Zahir Raheem that went from potentially exciting to dreadfully sleep-inducing, there were matchups like Paul Williams-Sharmba Mitchell and Andre Ward-Andy Kolle that got airtime just to help HBO fulfill its slogan of "building legends one round at a time." Though fights like Gonzalez-Montiel and Freitas-Raheem could be forgiven as products of circumstance, those in the blueprint of Williams-Mitchell and Ward-Kolle were both offensive and indefensible. This was not the series that had been meant to simultaneously break ground and faces.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Juan Manuel Marquez and Jimrex Jaca collaborated for nine rounds that improved the statures of each combatant. And this past weekend, viewers tore open the wrapping paper, exuberantly encouraged by HBO commentator Max Kellerman's describing all four of Saturday's contestants with three simple words: The two budding stars featherweight Jason Litzau and middleweight Edison Miranda had action-friendly styles and a certain cockiness created by having a high knockout ratio. But their respective foils Jose Andres Hernandez and Willie Gibbs weren't mere pushovers, having, against Antonio Escalante and Lenord Pierre, previously taken part in two of this year's best fights that most haven't seen.

In the first round of Litzau-Hernandez, the latter floored the former with a hard right that, combined with a late series of flush shots, turned the tallies from 10-9 Litzau to an even 9-9 and then a 10-8 lead for Hernandez. Litzau, though, recovered and began to pull away, punishing a Hernandez whose resistance was dwindling. If the referee had yet to count Hernandez out in the ring, Litzau shouldn't have done so in his mind.

Litzau had left his chin available for long Hernandez right hands all night the final one turned his lights out. With a healthy lead on the cards and the last moments of Round 8 ticking down, Litzau ate glove, chewed canvas and was left 10 seconds later with a bitter aftertaste. There would be no such momentum swing in the card's headlining bout for a majority of the first stanza, it felt like Edison Miranda and Willie Gibbs were, in fact, neglecting offense.

Remaining so, however, would prove impossible for Miranda, whose two hands are grenades with the pins pulled. A right hand landed high on Gibbs' forehead, sending him wobbling to the corner with Miranda in fast pursuit. Miranda's finishing flurry was mostly ineffective, but a few shots found enough chin to topple Gibbs.

Gibbs, kneeling, watched as referee Tommy Kimmons counted to 10, and the fallen fighter rose only after Kimmons began waving his arms to signal the bout's conclusion. Miranda celebrated, jubilant that, unlike his controversial September loss to Arthur Abraham, his fists alone had decided the results. With a second consecutive edition of "Boxing After Dark" that was, at last, positively offensive, HBO supplied its viewers with happy holidays.

One hopes that the momentum continues throughout a happy new year. 1. On that note, the matchmaking for the Jan.

27 "Boxing After Dark" deserves mixed reviews. If Stephen Colbert had a weekly boxing column, he'd give Kelly Pavlik-Jose Luis Zertuche a tip of the hat for the pairing of an up-and-coming undefeated middleweight with a fighter who oozes machismo. But he'd also give a wag of the finger for the choice of Arce's foe.

Though Julio David Roque Ler holds a 23-1 (14 KOs) record, his lone appearance of note was a unanimous decision loss last year to former junior bantamweight titlist Alexander Munoz. Arce promises fireworks every time out, but his time in the 115-pound division shouldn't be wasted on the Hawk Makepulas of the world. 2.

Since being hired as "expert commentator" for the "Boxing After Dark" series and the occasional World Championship Boxing show, Lennox Lewis has improved markedly, going from approximately 45 uses of the word "definitely" on the June 24 broadcast to just six on Saturday. He still meanders through circular sentences on occasion, but there are also observations that make one appreciate having a former fighter with a headset. Nevertheless, there was one sentence that had Lewis sounding like he was auditioning for the role of Frosted Flakes mascot Tony the Tiger: "I think he's on a good level because of the fact that he actually boxed Arthur Abraham from Germany and did a great job with him.

This guy, Edison Miranda's got great long arms, great physique, always in great shape. He wants to prove to the American public that he's a great middleweight, and he deserves to have a chance at the top." Lennox Lewis as a source of accidental amusement?

It's grrrrrrreat! 3. To be fair, Lewis wasn't the only member of the HBO commentary team whose words caused a chortle Saturday night, and it's not like this scribe doesn't understand the difficult job that the broadcasting crew has.