There would no feinting and jabbing, bobbing and weaving in this heavyweight rematch.

No patty-cake here.

If it was ballet you were after, try the Bolshoi.

No, this was strictly an old-school, smelling salts and liniment slugfest.

Winning this bout by decision was never going to happen.

And the inevitable KO punch arrived.

Third-and-five. Twenty-four seconds remaining. Ball at the five-yard-line.

Bo Levi Mitchell to Marquay McDaniel. The ol’ reliable firm.

And the Edmonton Eskimos left gasping for air, on their backs, staring up disbelievingly at the ring lights, swept aside in the Labour Day Week doubleheader by a butterfly’s-wing-thin 25-22 count.

Their numbers dwindling – DaVaris Daniels, Junior Turner, Joe Burnett, Ciante Evans, Jamar Wall – the Calgary Stampeders were harder to sell off than a salacious rumour.

Battered, it’s true, but still standing. On top of the heap.

“We went punch-for punch,’’ said Mitchell afterwards. “At first, it was our D throwing the punches then we stepped up and put the final haymaker in there.

“Said it last week, too, whoever had the ball in their hands last probably wins this game.”

Not quite. The Calgary Stampeders had to sweat a 47-yard field goal attempt by Chris Milo that veered right and cemented a 25-22.

“We knew it was going to be that type of game,’’ whistled D-lineman Micah Johnson. “Man, you know that’s what you get coming in here.

“Hats off to Edmonton. No matter what, you know you’re going to get your best shot from them. They’re going to make it come to down to the end, make it come down to the wire. Even when you think you’re ready to take off, you know something’s going happen to make it close.

“Guys probably ain’t gonna be able to walk for a while after this one.”

This was particularly punishing affair.

If it wasn’t Edmonton Eskimo linebacker Adam Konar deflating Daniels with enough impact to pop the air bag in a car, it was Stamp D-lineman Ja’Gared Davis clocking Mike Reilly directly in the numbers, briefly forcing him to the sidelines to undergo concussion protocol.

Nothing but split lips, crooked noses and cauliflower ears.

The final, deciding Stampder drive began with 1:29 on the clock and 70 yards to travel. The tide-turning play? A 44-yard chuck to Anthony Parker, playing out of position due to the ongoing injury plague, rising to snare a 44-yard with Eskimo DB Marcel Young overrunning on his coverage.

“Helluva play,’’ praised Mitchell. “That’s Batman, right there. With the utility belt. Play any position on the field.

“We had some brothers go down to night and we’ll rally around them.”

The ball wobbled mightily en route.

“Man, when Bo let it go I was like ‘Oooooooooh, boy’,’’ admitted Parker. “But I got it done. I don’t think (Young) expected me to stop and play it. I think he expected me to keep fading.

“I was able to keep concentration.

“Tough, tough game. Had that (bar fight) feel on the field, too. Just slugging it out. Up until that play I had maybe three catches for 15 yards and got smashed on every one of them.

“We knew they weren’t going to just let us walk in here and do what we did to them on Labour Day. So that’s a testament to this team.”

McDaniel, is money, of course.

“When they scored, we knew we had enough time. We were fighting all day – guys going down, guys coming in. That’s what I’m most proud of.”

Was that pass, as Mitchell thought, tipped en route?

“I know he undercut it so he either just barely deflected it or he missed it. But I was just focused on the ball.”

The Eskimos grabbed the lead back on a 33-yard pass from Reilly to D’haquille Williams. Stretching to snare the dart, Williams bounced off Joshua Bell and then Adarius Bowman picked off Brandon Smith to create a route to the end zone.

The Stampeder attack, held virtually in check for 29-plus minutes, finally slipped its shackles with 47 seconds remaining in the first half.

Reaching out on the dead run, Marken Michel latched specularly onto a second-and-10 Mitchell air-out with Eskies’ DB Marcell Young in the second-year wideout’s hip pocket. The play covered 48 yards, down to the one-yard-line.

Back-up QB Andrew Buckley then put the finishing touches on a seven-play, 75-yard drive.

The opportunistic Michel draw an end-zone PI on Edmonton safety Jordan Hoover to set up Calgary’s second touchdown, another keeper from Buckley late in Quarter 3.

The W keeps the Stamps three points ahead Winnipeg and now five in front of the Eskimos in the scrap for top spot in the West Division.

“Nothing pretty about it,’’ agreed “A lot of fight, both teams. A little over the edge at times. Nobody gave up on either side.

“Win No. 9 is huge.

“No magic calls. Just made plays. Just kept fighting.”