Football
Dan Rafael, ESPN Senior Writer 19y

Taylor and Hopkins eager for rematch

LAS VEGAS -- Jermain Taylor ended one of the greatest championship runs in boxing history.

Taylor, although clearly tiring late in the fight, hung on to win a split decision to claim the undisputed middleweight championship and end Bernard Hopkins' historic run as the 160-pound king on Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Many in the crowd of 11,992 had traveled from Taylor's native Arkansas to see the fight and they roared in delight when the decision was read.

"It felt great. I felt like crying," Taylor said. "In the early rounds I did a lot to win. In the later rounds, he started coming back in the fight. He's an awesome fighter, a great champion. I will always respect him."

Taylor promoter Lou DiBella appeared to be weeping tears of joy in the ring after seeing his franchise fighter defeat the man with whom he had a messy and public split after Hopkins unified titles in 2001.

"It's all Jermain's night," said DiBella, who won a $610,000 libel award against Hopkins in 2003 and had an appeal upheld. "You haven't even seen him scratch the surface of how great he's going to be. With respect to me and Bernard, I feel an ugly chapter of my life is over. I feel freed. I beat him in court, Jermain beat him in the ring."

Judges Paul Smith and Duane Ford each scored it 115-113 for Taylor while Jerry Roth had it 116-112 for Hopkins. At ringside, ESPN.com scored it 114-114.

Thus ends Hopkins's division-record of middleweight defenses at 20 as he ceded the title to Taylor, the 26-year-old 2000 U.S. Olympic bronze medalist groomed for stardom since Day 1.

This was not like when I fought Roy Jones and I knew I lost. This is the case where I know I won and they gave it to the other guy.
Bernard Hopkins

"I felt like I won the fight," Hopkins said. "I baited him in and I was able to use my strategy and counter him. It was easy to hit him when he was coming in. That was my plan. From the fifth or sixth rounds, I felt like I dominated the fight. I had him hurt two times. I guess the only thing I did wrong was not knock him out. I believe I should have got a unanimous decision.


"This was not like when I fought Roy Jones and I knew I lost. This is the case where I know I won and they gave it to the other guy."

Hopkins (46-3-1), whose perch as the widely-regarded No. 1 fighter in the world is in jeopardy, gave away many of the early rounds. That allowed Taylor (24-0) to sprint to a lead using his best weapon -- a long, stiff left jab.

"I knew he was going to come out to a slow start, so I was going to try a fast pace," Taylor said. "I may have started out too strong and got winded down the stretch but he never hurt me. He got some good shots in, but he never hurt me."

All-Time Consecutive Title Defenses
Boxer Class Def.
Joe Louis Heavyweight 25
Ricardo Lopez Strawweight 24
Sven Ottke Super Middleweight 21
Bernard Hopkins Middleweight 20

Hopkins was resilient, even on 40-year-old legs. An accidental head butt early in the fifth round opened a cut on Taylor's head. Taylor, pawing at the blood dripping from the cut on his hairline, attacked Hopkins.

Hopkins responded, landing two right hands. Then he stopped punching to taunt Taylor by making faces at him and wiggling his shoulders.

The tide seemed to turn in the eight round, when Hopkins landed a left hand that stopped Taylor in tracks.

Both fighters spent long stretches posing and feinting, but when Hopkins would throw, he would land solid right hands.

"Jermain made a lot of mistakes. He left his hands down," Hopkins said. "He threw wide punches and I countered him every time. I backed him up more than he backed me up. The judges saw something different."

In the 10th, he hurt Taylor with a right followed by two lefts along the ropes. When he tried to spin Taylor around and hit him behind the head, referee Jay Nady warned Hopkins.

The veteran started to punish Taylor in the 11th round, hurting him again with a combination. With trainer Bouie Fisher telling Hopkins he needed to close strong, Hopkins did just that.

He rocked Taylor with right hands, sending the blood flying from Taylor's face.

Ford, however, gave Taylor the round. Had Ford scored the 12th for Hopkins, the Philadelphian would have retained the title on a draw.

CompuBox statistics indicated how close the fight was. Taylor was credited with landing 86 of 453 punches (19 percent),while Hopkins landed 96 of 326 (27 percent).

I learned so much in the fight.I can't wait for the rematch.
New champion Jermain Taylor

HBO will replay the fight next Saturday at 10:15 p.m. ET.

Expect to see a rematch, as early as Oct. 1, the date HBO is holding for the fight.

"I can go home tonight and be comfortable because I know I won the fight," Hopkins said. "I will certainly take the rematch because it's already in the contract."

Taylor, too, said he would adhere to the terms of the contract and grant Hopkins an immediate rematch.

"I learned so much in the fight," Taylor said. "I can't wait for the rematch."

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.

^ Back to Top ^