By Rusty Rubin

A number of boxing fans took the time to write to me and disagree with my choice of Jermain Taylor to beat Bernard Hopkins. One even offered to wager with me, but I don’t like to gamble (and I live in Nevada) and I don’t bet against the guy who I would prefer to win.

Prefer? Yes, I hoped BHop would win one for us old timers, but I also picked Taylor because logic rules over emotion when you’re trying to handicap a fight and give the readers an unbiased view of the event.

Taylor won the fight with a 115-113 decision on the cards of the three judges. The same score I had their first fight and the same winner. The only way it could have been a different fight was if Hopkins started faster or Taylor started slower, but either way, the outcome figured to go to Taylor.

At almost 41, Hopkins should retire and proudly be inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame. He ruled the middleweights longer than any other fighter in memory, and kept boxing alive with interest in all his fights.

The “Executioner” is another example of a fighter going a bit past his prime, but in fairness, any other opponent than Taylor probably wouldn’t have had much of a chance to win the fight.

Hopkins is going to retire soon, which is a wise move.

We’ve seen too many fighters continuing too long which proves nothing except they are has-beens, and embarrass themselves by letting minor foes look good.

They also endanger their health and legacy by continuing to fight when they have nothing left.

Are you listening Evander?

Agree or disagree, we’d like to hear from you. (Rngsportsr@aol.com).

Glove2Glove:

Boxing, which needs all the good guys it can get, lost two in a short period of time, George Horowitz who owned Everlast Sporting Goods, and did so much for boxing, out of his own pocket, and Pat Putnam, someone I felt should have been a sure fire, first ballot Hall of Fame writers, and a friend. Please say prayers for the souls of both of booing’s best attributes. Didn’t know George personally, but Pat was a friend, an ex-Marine and a straight shooter, who I had the utmost respect for.

Prayers needed for Elise Brown, grand daughter of Ringside Products head honcho and good boxing guy John Brown. Young Elise has heart problems.

Prayers have also helped but continue to be needed for Dennis Wilcox, brother of boxing scribe David Wilcox, who is in an Oregon hospital suffering from Leukemia. The family and everyone at Glove2Glove ask for your prayers in his recovery.

Prayers for the return to health of Audrey Talmo, wife of Ed, a long-time boxing fan who cares about our sport.

Prayers needed for the return to health of Alfonso Luna, father of our outstanding photographer Ray Luna, who has taken ill in Southern California.

Please say prayers for the return to health of Helen Wambolt, wife of our East Coast World Boxing Hall of Fame writer Danny Wambolt. Cards will also be most welcome.***

Please say prayers for the return to health of Orazio Esposito, father of our photographer Richard Esposito.***

Prayers for the return to health of Don Donelson, father of writer Tom, and Gene Sebastian, brother of former middleweight champ Billy Soose. Both are suffering from congestive heart disease.

Please say prayers for Phill Grazide of Santa Rosa, CA. a big supporter of amateur boxing, who is suffering the crippling effects of rheumatoid arthritis.***

Needless to say we need prayers for the return to health of both former champs Greg Page and Gerald McClellan, both confined to wheelchairs.***

Glove2Glove is a non-denominational group set up to aide those boxing folks and their relatives in need of prayers and cards. We accept no money and only contact our members when someone is in need. It’s free to join. Simply send us your e-mail address. And even if you’re not a member, feel free to contact us if you are aware of some boxing person in need.***

Touching on politics briefly: Politics is the fine art of compromise, but in America, when one party controls both houses of Congress and the White House, compromise is not necessary. The party in charge can ram anything they want down the necks of their constituents, and short of voting against them in the next election, there is precious little we can do about it.

It’s not what Party is in charge, both are equally guilty of the practice, known better to us is strike (or screw the voters) when the iron is hot.

And both Parties do what they can to get their party to unite behind an issue they deem important, which is why we have majority and minority leaders. In short, they coerce in any way possible, their troops, to get them to stay in line, like an army of lemmings for example.

I remember when I ran for local office in the late 1970’s, as a Democrat. The Dems knew that they couldn’t control me and thus recruited a non-Democrat to run in the Primary against me. I was outspent by almost 16-1 and lost by only 206 votes, while campaigning most of the time in a body cast.

More to the point, I wouldn’t take big bucks from anyone. The public has the right to know who’s funding you (or whose pocket you may be in), and I believed then and now, that the candidate has the (moral) obligation to make that public. Legally, there are limits as to how much you can receive without declaring it, but in reality all contributions should be public information.

Truth be told, I’m glad that I lost the election. Compromise, if you take it to the extremes, is very much like prostitution, and I would never have sold my beliefs to the highest bidder. I like to sleep at night.

A politician gets paid to represent his constituents, but in truth, by and large, they sell themselves to the highest bidder (read lobbyists).

The goals of most (not all) of today’s politicians is two-fold, to pander to their base in order to get re-elected and to make as much money as they can for the same purpose. Anyone elected takes contributions and builds up a war chest, making it impossible to run against them successfully, unless they make an outrageous mistake, or are redistricted, and even then they enjoy all the name recognition they built up over their years in office.

This is not the government our forefathers envisioned when drawing up our Constitution.

Yet, the sad truth is, that there are only two ways of making meaningful changes in our policies, one is peaceful the other is not, and I certainly don’t advocate a violent revolution in America, which is still the greatest Country this world has ever known.

And the only way to make the needed changes in America is to make changes in our electoral system, we need three or more political parties that people can choose from and be given a fair choice.

Part of the problem is that the Republicans represent the rich and big business. The Dems represent the poor and minorities. This is not a perception; it is reality, although our current Republican President seems to spend more money than any Democrat in recent memory.

Who represents the middle class? No one, and that’s why the middle class is quickly disappearing.

In recent years, there’s been very little difference in both parties, except of course their name. We have plenty of Conservatives in the Democratic Party and plenty of Liberals in the Republicans. These guys are probably not happy in their own skin, which is why we need at least one more party, and they should be labeled, Conservative, Liberal and Moderate.

And there should be an easier way to allow more parties to participate. It’s been made hard because the rules are made by those in power, and if that’s the case, nothing will ever change.

Agree or disagree, I’d like to hear from you. I respect everyone’s opinion. (Rusty@ringsports.com).