oldgringo thoughts on Hopkins/Taylor

[oldgringo]

I just recently watched Hopkins Taylor (last night and this morning in fact) and I want to voice my opinion on it now that I've actually seen the fight. I know there are already a million threads about it but you can eat me if you don't like it, i've been here for a year dammit.

I scored the fight like this:

Round 1 - Taylor
Round 2 - Taylor
Round 3 - Hopkins
Round 4 - Taylor
Round 5 - Hopkins
Round 6 - Taylor
Round 7 - Taylor
Round 8 - Taylor
Round 9 - Hopkins
Round 10 - Hopkins
Round 11 - Hopkins
Round 12 - Hopkins

I had it 114-114, a draw. It was just like everyone said, Taylors aggressiveness gained him the majority of the early rounds, and Hopkins mastery of the sport swept him the championship rounds.

A few things I noticed:

I gave round 3 to B-Hop because of CLEAN punching and excellent defense. As aggressive as Taylor was in the round...he landed nothing of note except for a couple of good jabs. Nard landed a good left counter at about 1:45, a good right hand lead at :50, a good hook in the last few seconds...all were clean. Hopkins was controlling the pace in the first half of the round, Taylor was dictating late in the round. Close round to Hopkins though for the defense and clean shots.

Hopkins landed a little right hand and a left hook in the fifth round early on...at about 2:30. Taylor got back at him right after the cut by rushing him and scoring maybe once in that flurry...but it looked pretty. Hopkins immediately came back with the left hook which hit the top of Taylors head...and he caught him with a big right hand at about 1:03. Taylor really didn't do much in round apart for the left hook at the end of the round which didn't completely land flush and the flurry after the cut. Round 5 for Hopkins for clean punches, defense, and for good movement that set up Taylor for clean power shots.

I don't have much to say about Taylors work because he never really did anything spectacular for me in the fight. He outworked Hopkins and did a good job of pressing him early. His flurries to the body were working for him, and they looked good. I was impressed with his hand speed when flurrying, but he threw a LOT of sloppy punches. His combination in round 6 at :38 seconds was a good example of what he should have been doing more of. Round 2 was also a very good round for Jermain.

Overall it was Hopkins who did more damage, but Taylor did his thing early and did what he was supposed to. The closet rounds that I saw were rounds 3 and 7. I thought Taylor won 7 for the extra work he put in and Hopkins took 3 for the reasons I explained above.

I thought Hopkins legitimately hurt Taylor with that huge right hand in round 10 (Taylor held on for dear life and Nady actually had to rip Taylor off of Hop), and he stunned him a little in the 11th and 12th. Hopkins was the only one landing any significant shots.

In conclusion, I don't get why everyone was thinking that Hopkins fought so incredibly dirty or anything because he brought the fight that he ALWAYS brings to the table. Taylor was doing plenty of holding himself. I think Taylor also did a lot to make Hopkins look dirtier like constantly turning away from him. It was a good fight overall and I don't have much of a problem with the decision. I think it was a bonafide draw but I can see how you could score it 115-113 Taylor or even 115-113 Hopkins. The biggest idiots were Jerry Roth for 116-112 Hop (honestly that's crazy) and Duane Ford for scoring the 12th round to Taylor.

I look forward to the rematch and think Hopkins will win a convincing but close fight. Much respect to Jermain for beating an all-time great like Hop. Sorry this post was so long.

[Bozo_no no]

Nice take. I was interested to hear what you think, and I saw it very similar.

[oldgringo]

Thanks man. I can't see how anyone can scream robbery as it was a close fight any way you slice it. Maybe Hopkins did simply kick it into gear too late.

I don't know how easy it's going to be for him to simply do that though. At the end of rounds 10 and 11 Hop seemed a bit winded and like he wanted to save something for the next round.

One thing is for sure though, we need to bring back 15 round fights so that we can separate the men from the boys.

[Bozo_no no]

An interesting note is that while many people had Taylor "sweeping" the early half of the fight, he was doing so only by coming forward. His jab, usually his best weapon, was landing on average about 3 time a round through the 1st 8 rounds.

Hopkins defense (slipping and taking it on the gloves and shoulder) discouraged Taylor's jab to a certian extent, and in scroring tight rounds, defense plays a factor.

I'm not arguing that Taylor didn't win many of the first rounds, I just think it was closer than people make it sound.

As you can see by the stats, many of the early rounds saw Taylor coming forward and landing a few jabs, vs Bernard taking his jab away and lanfing a few counters.

The stats for this fight are very interesting:

[oldgringo]

An interesting note is that while many people had Taylor "sweeping" the early half of the fight, he was doing so only by coming forward. His jab, usually his best weapon, was landing on average about 3 time a round through the 1st 8 rounds.

Hopkins defense (slipping and taking it on the gloves and shoulder) discouraged Taylor's jab to a certian extent, and in scroring tight rounds, defense plays a factor.

I'm not arguing that Taylor didn't win many of the first rounds, I just think it was closer than people make it sound.

As you can see by the stats, many of the early rounds saw Taylor coming forward and landing a few jabs, vs Bernard taking his jab away and lanfing a few counters.

The stats for this fight are very interesting:

Thanks for those numbers. They would somewhat support my claims that Hop took the 3rd and 5th, some of the evidence would be seen just through evaluating Hops defense and harder shots too though.

Anyway ya slice it, good fight, both guys gave a good effort.

[Dirt E Gomez]

One of the things I've been trying to determine is whether or not I can give Hopkins a 10-8 round in the 10th. Now, in most fights that round would simply be a 10-9, but relative to all other 11 rounds that one was explosive. Landing 15 power punches, which was the total number landed by Taylor the first 4 rounnds... any thoughts?

[Soldier01]

I just recently watched Hopkins Taylor (last night and this morning in fact) and I want to voice my opinion on it now that I've actually seen the fight. I know there are already a million threads about it but you can eat me if you don't like it, i've been here for a year dammit.

I scored the fight like this:

Round 1 - Taylor
Round 2 - Taylor
Round 3 - Hopkins
Round 4 - Taylor
Round 5 - Hopkins
Round 6 - Taylor
Round 7 - Taylor
Round 8 - Taylor
Round 9 - Hopkins
Round 10 - Hopkins
Round 11 - Hopkins
Round 12 - Hopkins

I had it 114-114, a draw. It was just like everyone said, Taylors aggressiveness gained him the majority of the early rounds, and Hopkins mastery of the sport swept him the championship rounds.

A few things I noticed:

I gave round 3 to B-Hop because of CLEAN punching and excellent defense. As aggressive as Taylor was in the round...he landed nothing of note except for a couple of good jabs. Nard landed a good left counter at about 1:45, a good right hand lead at :50, a good hook in the last few seconds...all were clean. Hopkins was controlling the pace in the first half of the round, Taylor was dictating late in the round. Close round to Hopkins though for the defense and clean shots.

Hopkins landed a little right hand and a left hook in the fifth round early on...at about 2:30. Taylor got back at him right after the cut by rushing him and scoring maybe once in that flurry...but it looked pretty. Hopkins immediately came back with the left hook which hit the top of Taylors head...and he caught him with a big right hand at about 1:03. Taylor really didn't do much in round apart for the left hook at the end of the round which didn't completely land flush and the flurry after the cut. Round 5 for Hopkins for clean punches, defense, and for good movement that set up Taylor for clean power shots.

I don't have much to say about Taylors work because he never really did anything spectacular for me in the fight. He outworked Hopkins and did a good job of pressing him early. His flurries to the body were working for him, and they looked good. I was impressed with his hand speed when flurrying, but he threw a LOT of sloppy punches. His combination in round 6 at :38 seconds was a good example of what he should have been doing more of. Round 2 was also a very good round for Jermain.

Overall it was Hopkins who did more damage, but Taylor did his thing early and did what he was supposed to. The closet rounds that I saw were rounds 3 and 7. I thought Taylor won 7 for the extra work he put in and Hopkins took 3 for the reasons I explained above.

I thought Hopkins legitimately hurt Taylor with that huge right hand in round 10 (Taylor held on for dear life and Nady actually had to rip Taylor off of Hop), and he stunned him a little in the 11th and 12th. Hopkins was the only one landing any significant shots.

In conclusion, I don't get why everyone was thinking that Hopkins fought so incredibly dirty or anything because he brought the fight that he ALWAYS brings to the table. Taylor was doing plenty of holding himself. I think Taylor also did a lot to make Hopkins look dirtier like constantly turning away from him. It was a good fight overall and I don't have much of a problem with the decision. I think it was a bonafide draw but I can see how you could score it 115-113 Taylor or even 115-113 Hopkins. The biggest idiots were Jerry Roth for 116-112 Hop (honestly that's crazy) and Duane Ford for scoring the 12th round to Taylor.

I look forward to the rematch and think Hopkins will win a convincing but close fight. Much respect to Jermain for beating an all-time great like Hop. Sorry this post was so long.

Nice work man, Very accurate take on the fight.

[Manny_P]

One of the things I've been trying to determine is whether or not I can give Hopkins a 10-8 round in the 10th. Now, in most fights that round would simply be a 10-9, but relative to all other 11 rounds that one was explosive. Landing 15 power punches, which was the total number landed by Taylor the first 4 rounnds... any thoughts?

nyhahahahahahahahahaha. yer a foo, FOO!


Recent 10 - 8 rounds examples:

Cotto vs Corley when Cotto got stunned

Gatti vs Mayweather. 6th round


Now, you think Hop vs Tayler 12, deserves 10-8 fo Hop? You're really takin Hop nut lickingness to ta next level.

[Manny_P]

Nice work man, Very accurate take on the fight.

almost accurate, cuz he dint get one thing right. Tayler won. nyhahahaha. Good analysis though by him. Big ups.

[Dirt E Gomez]

Now, you think Hop vs Tayler 12, deserves 10-8 fo Hop? You're really takin Hop nut lickingness to ta next level.

almost accurate, cuz he dint get one thing right. Tayler won. nyhahahaha. Good analysis though by him. Big ups.

Once again, reading comprehension buddy. He scored it a draw... And arguing this point against you is useless since you wouldn't believe the sky is blue if I told you it was. Read my previous post and my logical reasons for a possible 10-8, then if you feel the need to make another random, inane comment; feel free to.