In the waning hours of the historic trial challenging the constitutionality of a state ban on same-sex marriage, the federal courtroom in San Francisco felt a little like a boxing arena.

After Yes on 8 attorney Charles Cooper massaged some testimony from his second, final, and reputedly best expert witness—David Blankenhorn—he sent him into the ring Tuesday with a man who has been dubbed as one of the best trial lawyers in the country, David Boies.

Boies had just that morning finished his almost nine hours-long cross–examination of defense expert Kenneth Miller, a cross-examination in which Boies had thrown into question both Miller’s credibility and purpose as a witness. But while Miller was somewhat timid in his responses to Boies’ blistering inquisition, Blankenhorn was defiant and combative.

Boies went after Blankenhorn’s credibility immediately, noting that he apparently had only one peer-reviewed article to his credit and that was a thesis on a labor dispute between cabinetmaker unions in Britain.

Read the rest of Lisa Keen’s article here.