LAS VEGAS (AP) - Jermain Taylor believes he can keep up with Bernard Hopkins' fists.
As for the champ's filibusters ...
"When we get in the ring, all the talking in the world doesn't matter," Taylor said Wednesday. "We're there to fight, not talk."
On Saturday night at the MGM Grand, they will contest the undisputed middleweight belt. Hopkins has been champion for 20 straight defenses, a record that probably won't ever be matched. At 40, he seems to be in his boxing prime.
There's nothing stale about his tongue, either. Not that Taylor is bothered by all the rhetoric.
"This is a dream come true and it's been a long time earning it," the 26-year-old native of Little Rock, Ark., said. "I feel he has no advantages, whatever he says. Inside or out, I'm better. I'm faster inside, I'm faster outside, I'm stronger.
"I respect him, but you have to have confidence, and I do. I am very confident in my abilities. I can beat him."
Nobody has beaten Hopkins since Roy Jones took the IBF middleweight title with a 12-round decision in 1993. That's 26 straight fights, with a draw and a no-contest mixed in. Since taking the crown over Segundo Mercado in April 1995 with a seventh-round knockout, he's barely been challenged. In his last dozen fights, Hopkins has been at his most impressive, including stopping Felix Trinidad in the 12th round and Oscar De La Hoya in the ninth.
Hopkins says he'll have two more fights after facing Taylor, who he claims is the best challenger in the middleweight division _ but not nearly in his class.
"Jermain Taylor is the only middleweight who motivates Bernard Hopkins to do a 21st defense," Hopkins claimed. "He's the only 160-pound fighter I knew would bring the buzz and sort of the opinion of what might happen in the fight. That's what I wanted.
"I know Jermain Taylor is young, and from an age point of view, that plays a major role and can be a selling point. Young always has been a good trait in life, not only in sports but it's human nature: young versus old and young normally wins out.
"But I am different. I don't have a 40-year-old mind or body. When people see this Saturday the big buildup of young versus old and have it shoved down their throat with young versus old, and I will reverse that."
Taylor has never lost as a pro, going 23-0 with 17 knockouts. He also hasn't faced the quality opponents Hopkins has vanquished. He knows he'll have to be aggressive from the outset _ Hopkins is claiming he'll play the role of matador to Taylor's bull.
"I plan to force the pace; you've go to start fast against him," Taylor said. "I'm not letting him set the pace, that's very important."
Not so important, he insists, is the difference in experience. Taylor was 13 when Hopkins won his first title of any kind. Indeed, Hopkins' resume had 35 fights on it by then.
But Hopkins says Taylor is making a critical mistake if he dismisses all the knowledge of the game the champion will carry into the ring Saturday night.
"If you look at me as just an athlete and what I have accomplished, you would be a fool not to respect me," Hopkins said. "People talk boxing. I live boxing. This is an edge I have that Jermain Taylor has not experienced. If you don't believe that, I can't sell you nothing."
