By Frank Lotierzo
Based on his split-decision win tonight, Jermain Taylor must be given his just due as undisputed middleweight champion. He just finished beating the fighter, who held the title longer and defended it more times than any other fighter who ever held it. Some may try to water down his victory because it was against a fighter closer to 30 than 50. But, Hopkins was a slight favorite and probably fought at a higher level after the age of 40 than any other fighter in boxing history with the exception of Archie Moore.
The win over Hopkins did not come easy, Bernard came on strong in the late rounds. With full knowledge that Hopkins is a slow starter, Taylor came out very fast in the really rounds. A right hand in the second round sent Hopkins reeling into the ropes as the crowd exploded. As the rounds wore on, Taylor's speed and power was getting the better of the aging champion. In fifth round, a cut opened up on the forehead of Taylor from a clash of heads. Hopkins saw blood and started to land heavy right hands on the young bull.
In the final three rounds, Hopkins put it all on the line as he threw his best punches of the fight. Taylor ate repeated right hands from Hopkins, but Bernard was unable to put the young star away. Taylor, tired and bruised from the biggest fight of his career, held on in the final rounds to pull of the victory. The judges saw the fight 116-112 for Hopkins, 115-113 twice for Taylor. There is a rematch clause and Taylor went on the record to state that he would be willing to meet Hopkins again in the ring.
Taylor is a true middleweight talent who is strong for his weight along with being well conditioned. His high knockout percentage causes some to think of him as strictly a puncher. However, he is a polished fighter who is a rarity in boxing being that he is a boxer/puncher. The new champion also understands that the jab is the most important punch in boxing and his is the best in the division. When fighting on the inside, Taylor has an outstanding set-up punch in his right uppercut that has legitimate knockout power.
If he can stay at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds, it's not hard to envision him holding the title for a while. But there is widespread speculation that he will not be able to make the weight for any considerable length of time. Opposed to his predecessor. Hopkins had is first fight as a light heavyweight, weighing 177 pounds. For his fight against Taylor tonight he weighed in at 160. Hopkins had only come in at the middleweight five times in his previous 20 title defenses. Making the middleweight limit of 160 was never an issue for the former champ Bernard Hopkins.
For Hopkins, losing his title to Jermain Taylor who is promoted by Hopkins former advisor, Lou DiBella, has to be crushing. There couldn't have been a worse scenario for Hopkins than losing to Taylor/DiBella. Remember, this wasn't a mandatory fight that Hopkins had to take. Boxing was treated to Hopkins-Taylor because Hopkins wanted to knock off DiBella's super-star fighter and prove like all past great champs that he doesn't avoid or duck any perceived fighter who is a threat to his reign as champion.
Taylor winning the title from Hopkins makes his promoter Lou DiBella 3-0 against his former client. DiBella sued Hopkins for defamation when Hopkins claimed DiBella shook him down for $50,000. Hopkins alleged the money was so he could fight on HBO while DiBella was still the vice-president of programing for the network. A court ruled in DiBella's favor on one of the 4-5 counts awarding him $610,000. Hopkins appealed the verdict and lost, something DiBella didn't go unmentioned at the May 3rd press conference announcing the Hopkins-Taylor bout. If there is anyone who is happier than the newly crowned middleweight champ, Jermain Taylor, it's Lou DiBella. The fact that it was his fighter who ended Hopkins 10-plus year reign has middleweight champion is something he'll never forget and it will be hard for him to ever be part of a more satisfying victory as long as he remains in boxing.
The Hopkins-DiBella back drop actually helped to stimulate interest in this fight. Granted, Taylor is a big and powerful middleweight, but he hadn't faced a complete fighter on the level of Hopkins in his 23 previous fights. During his climb up the ranks in the middleweight division, he was thought to have been moved along to slow by DiBella an company. His management was also taken to task for turning down a fight with top contender Howard Eastman, who Hopkins defeated in his last fight before Taylor, to fight the war tested Raul Marquez who had been previously stopped by Fernando Vargas and Luis Campas fighting as a junior middleweight.
However, it appears that Taylor's brain trust knew what they were doing by not risking a loss and being in position to get a shot at an older Hopkins. Luckily for them Hopkins wanted the fight just as much as they did. Now Taylor is the fighter who has to be regarded the best middleweight in boxing. Taylor has legitimized himself as a top five pound-for-pound fighter among boxings best. The only fighter with a better claim to the top spot on the mythical pound-for-pound list is Floyd Mayweather Jr. And Taylor can claim two significant things Mayweather can't - (1) he is the undisputed champion of his division, holding the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO championship belts - (2) Mayweather hasn't beat a fighter close to being on the same level that Taylor has in Bernard Hopkins.
Taylor's stature as undisputed middleweight champion will vault him into becoming one of HBO's premier fighters. The future also looks good for him as well. There was a rematch clause in the contract that he will have to fight Hopkins again if Bernard chooses to exercise it. Only this time he'll hold all the cards at the bargaining table. If a rematch doesn't happen, I think we'll see him fight once or twice more this year versus bottom ten middleweight contenders. And possibly sometime by early spring next year he'll defend against Winky Wright.
With the Bernard Hopkins era now a part of boxing history, Jermain Taylor has a lot to accomplish before his name can be linked to the former champs. Hopkins set a very high mark for all future middleweight champions to reach and maintain. Only time will tell if Taylor's era will really be the NeXt.