Talk about your one night stands.

Ryan Covert had one he will never forget Wednesday as part of the professional boxing show in front of 4,000 people at Pullman Park.

Making his pro debut, the 29-year-old heavyweight got up from an early knockdown and wound up knocking out Billy Greenawalt of Youngstown, Ohio, just 44 seconds into the third round.

As sudden as the turnaround was, the end of Covert's pro fight career was even more so.

"That's it. I'm done,"he said after the bout. "I proved to myself I could be a pro boxer. If I wanted to pursue a career in the ring, I could. I just don't want to.

"The only way I would have fought again was if I lost. Then, I'd have to redeem myself."

Covert knows how to quit while he's ahead.

He was 59-16 in 75 amateur bouts with the Butler Cubs. His final amateur bout was a year ago in front of a huge throng at the Big Butler Fair. Covert won that fight by a decision.

As a pro, he had a little more flair for the dramatic.

When the bell sounded to start the fight Wednesday, Covert was immediately flattened by a straight right hand — and was glad it happened.

"You better believe it,"he said. "I wanted adversity and I got it. Like I've said all along, this night was a personal test for me.

"If I got knocked down, could I get back up?Do I have the heart to go on?I answered those personal questions."

Covert left the ring with a temporary souvenir: a blackened right eye.

Trainer Don Spinetti could only smile while watching his fighter leave the ring for the final time.

"That's how Ryan Covert has always been,"Spinetti said. "He's tough, he's hungry and he keeps coming at you.

"I'm thrilled for him. He will never forget this night. Never."

After Covert got up from the early knockdown, Greenawalt tagged him again with a right, this one bouncing Covert off the ropes. But he kept his feet.

"I never felt that one,"Covert said of the second right that connected. "That knockdown was the wake-up call I needed. That was all he was gonna get all night."

By the end of the first round, Greenawalt showed signs of fatigue. By the end of the second round, he was gasping for breath in his corner.

"My conditioning was bad,"the Youngstown fighter admitted. "Not enough time on the bike. I didn't do enough running. I ran out of gas."

Covert landed a right uppercut on Greenawalt toward the end of Round 2 that the latter never recovered from. At the start of Round 3, after Greenawalt missed with a wild right and spun himself off balance, Covert trapped him in a corner and threw a flurry of left and rights.

"He never caught me with anything,"Greenawalt insisted. "My foot got caught along the ropes and I went down. But, man, I was tired. I just gave it up at that point."

As Greenawalt's body slumped to the canvas, Covert thrust his arms in the air and let out a victorious yell, as if his life had been vindicated.

"I had to find out if this was in me. I thought it was. Now I know it is,"he said.

But he'll take it no further.

Covert is the executive chef at Oakview Golf Club in Slippery Rock.

"I already have my dream job. I don't want this,"he said of boxing. "I mean, I love the sport. It turned my life around. I have a great job, a beautiful wife. ... It's all because of boxing.

"I fought tonight for me and my love of the game. I didn't want to get paid for it."

Covert donated his share of the purse to breast cancer research.

Greenawalt (1-4) wants a rematch, saying "I'll gladly take on that dude anytime, anywhere."

But it's not going to happen.

"Nothing will get me back in the ring,"Covert said. "I'm 29, have a wonderful wife and a wonderful life. I already suffered a collapsed lung in 2005 when I was sparring and got hit in the back.

"I trained hard for this fight, but training took me out of my restaurant and I didn't like that. I love to entertain people, but I want to do it with food, not fights."

But for one night, Covert was king of the ring.

When a ringside doctor came by to check the black eye, he asked Covert if he felt OK.

"I feel like a million bucks," Covert responded, grinning. "I feel like 25 million bucks."