KINGS OF PAIN

     Imagine being bashed on the head with an ironing board. Or being punched so hard in the chest that your sternum folds around your attacker's fist.
      That, experts say, is what it would feel like for mere mortals to be punched by Evander Holyfield or Mike Tyson.
      "Most of us would go down in one shot. Lights out," said Dr. Charles Ruggeroli, a Valley Hospital cardiologist and member of the Nevada Athletic Commission's Medical Advisory Board. "Don't forget for one minute these guys hit real hard."
      The power of professional boxers should come as little surprise to the sport's aficionados, who will pay up to $5,000 a ticket or about 60 bucks for pay-per-view tonight to watch the world-class heavyweights pound each other like butchers tenderizing beef.
      But for those less acquainted with the sport, grasping the sheer force behind top fighters' punches might help them understand the fascination with tonight's rematch -- why it's so difficult, for example, to pry husbands away from TV sets, or drive anywhere near the MGM Grand, where the much-anticipated bout will be held.
      University of Nevada, Reno, sports psychologist Jerry May explains the allure of boxing as "a timeless fascination in the ability of one person to beat up another."
      "Boxing may be one of the last sports to have that basic, emotional drama," he said.
      Richard Davies, a UNR history professor who studies American sports history, agrees that "people like to see each other go at it."
      "They like the primal, man-to-man drama of it," he said. "We're basically a violent society with a lot of people who like to watch that kind of brutality."
      So, the city that was outraged when a man was beaten in The Mirage parking garage Monday will celebrate tonight's fight as it's broadcast to 159 nations worldwide.
      Hypocrisy?
      Naw, says Davies. "The difference is mugging is illegal. Boxing isn't."
      The idea, of course, is not to get hit in the ring. But, as exemplified by Tyson's beating by Holyfield on Nov. 9, even the greatest fighters aren't immune.
      "Even if you're in great shape and are accustomed to being punched, when you get hit that solid, you're going to go down," Ruggeroli said.
      Fortunately for boxers, he explained, their bodies are numbed by a phenomenon called the flight-fight response.
      The urgency and hype of a title bout ready fighters for combat, Ruggeroli said, by "affecting their bodies neurologically so their systems don't feel the pain as much as they would in calmer situations." He described it as an adrenaline surge and a release of endorphins -- a hormone related to the brain that causes a kind of euphoria, or "runners high."
      Such a phenomenon is believed to have eased Tyson's pain after the third round in November, when he took three solid shots from Holyfield.
      "From that point forward, he wasn't really with the program. He was there, he knew what was going on, but he wasn't all there," Ruggeroli said. "The pain at the time of the delivery of the blows is not the biggest item. If it was, there wouldn't be any fighters left in the sport."
      International Boxing Federation junior middleweight champion Raul Marquez describes suffering deep cuts on his eyebrow and the top of his head during his title bout defeating Anthony Stevens in April.
      "But I didn't feel no pain because the adrenaline was going and I was hot," he recalled. "You don't feel it until probably the next day. Then, believe me, you're really cut up and sore."
      Other fighters aren't so lucky. Colombian Jimmy Garcia, 23, died in 1995 from head injuries after a bout with Gabriel Ruelas at Caesars Palace. Duk Koo Kim of South Korea, also 23, died in 1982 from head injuries after fighting Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini at Caesars Palace.
      To avoid such tragedies, doctors say they particularly watch for signs of head injuries, especially in athletes reporting headaches or dizziness after their fights.
      Damage comes when the velocity of a punch causes the skull to move away from the impact. But the brain, sitting inside the skull with fluid around it, doesn't move as quickly.
      "So as the skull moves one way, the brain moves another," Ruggeroli said. "That contusion or concussion of the brain is what causes the fighter to go down, unconscious. You've got to watch out when that happens repeatedly."
      All that physiologically happens to fighters remains somewhat mysterious to medical experts, many of whom are eager to learn more about it.
      Dr. Edwin "Flip" Homansky is an emergency medicine specialist who has treated boxers ringside since 1980 and chairs the state Athletic Commission's Medical Advisory Board. He will be examining fighters at the MGM tonight.
      Homansky recently attended a medical conference where 300 physicians from 83 countries gathered to discuss boxing safety. The group studied cellular changes in the brain that can cause both acute and chronic injuries.
      "What we're trying to do is to develop the science in the laboratory so we have more tools at our disposal to prevent these fighters from getting hurt," he said.
      It could take years, he said, for that research to yield clinical techniques to help injured fighters.
      In the meantime, boxers of all weight classes will continue jabbing and punching to the delight of their fans, most of whom couldn't endure even their most half-hearted pokes.
      "People may think it looks easy, but most guys would be put into a coma by a punch from Tyson or Holyfield," Marquez said.
      As for himself, the 154-pounder said he wouldn't want to face either of the 218-pound fighters, even on their worst days.
      "I have a feeling they'd send me to a coma, too," said the junior lightweight champ. "Let's put it this way, I wouldn't want to find out."