Pre-Fight Flashback: "Fighting Words" - Hopkins/Taylor: Executioner Now Ex-Champion

“Fighting Words” – Hopkins/Taylor: Executioner Now Ex-Champion 07-18-2005. By David P. Greisman On Saturday night, Bernard Hopkins limited Jermain Taylor’s offense, controlling the pace of the fight, using exemplary footwork, counterpunching, an inside game and just the right amount of dirty tactics to provide the strictest test yet (and perhaps ever) for the 2000 Olympic bronze medalist and new middleweight champion. He forgot to win enough rounds. In this week’s edition of Fighting Words, I will analyze nearly every facet of Hopkins’s split decision defeat, from the performances of both pugilists to the scoring of the twelfth round by one of the judges, breaking down the facts and opining along the way. This week’s segment of The 10 Count includes thoughts on the undercard of the Hopkins/Taylor pay-per-view, as well as items concerning Kassim Ouma, Juan Diaz, Danny Williams, and Shane Mosley’s new partnership with Golden Boy Promotions. The Master Strategist Fails Himself Despite jumping the gun and running across the ring just prior to the opening bell, Bernard Hopkins did little to press the action for the majority of the fight. Whereas against Howard Eastman, Hopkins had slowed down the pace of the fight and won nearly every round on the scorecard, with Jermain Taylor he seemed content to let the young challenger build what would become an insurmountable lead. After three rounds had been completed, Hopkins was only averaging four landed punches per round, with Taylor just slightly better at six. Yet it was Taylor’s throwing of 36 shots a stanza, compared to Hopkins’s 15, that gave the Little Rock native an early advantage. It wasn’t until the fifth that a round clearly went to Hopkins, a small victory that came as a result of an accidental head butt that opened up a gash on Taylor’s scalp, followed by a few hard right hand leads. Hopkins could have used round five as a turning point in the match, but instead gave the sixth away, landing only four punches while letting a confused Taylor, busted open for the first time in his career, take the stanza and the momentum back as the fight hit the halfway point. The plodding pace continued in rounds seven and eight, with Hopkins content to try and eke out rounds with the minimum amount of offense. And when the tide began to turn in the ninth, when Hopkins began to land cleaner and harder, affecting Taylor more, he was already far behind on two judges’ cards. In round ten, however, Hopkins used a left hook to make Taylor duck, and when “Bad Intentions” lifted his head, Hopkins landed a right cross that left Taylor holding on for his dear life. Suddenly, the trap that Hopkins had been setting during his prolonged period of in-ring study had sprung into action, and Taylor, who appeared to be exhausted, was the proverbial deer in the headlights. But again, Hopkins would shoot himself in the foot, stepping back and looking for more openings for his right hand lead to land instead of coming forward to maul his opponent until the referee stopped the fight. Hopkins had fallen behind in rounds and needed a knockout, but his overconfidence and inability to grasp the status quo ended up costing him the championship. Hopkins naively confirmed as much in his post-fight interview with Larry Merchant, during which he expressed disappointment that he lost, that he should have come out the winner considering the state that he had left Taylor in during the waning portions of the night. He had waited too long, thought too much, and as a result, the wily veteran Executioner was now an ex-champion. Taylor Showed Promise, Flaws The heir apparent has become king, but along the way he has shown weaknesses that can be exploited to limit his reign. Taylor dislikes pressing the action, especially when it can open him up to hard counters, and as such, changes in pace and direction that make him think will make him lose focus and stray from his game plan. Taylor, who had played the role of counter puncher against smaller foes Raul Marquez and William Joppy, instead found himself the aggressor against Hopkins. While searching for openings, Taylor was unable to let his hands go or attack Hopkins’s body, and following him across the ring tested his conditioning. Considering that Hopkins, a hard puncher but not a knockout artist by any means, had Taylor in danger, the question arises as to whether Taylor’s chin could hold up against stronger opponents. The weight that Taylor gains before his bouts begin show that he may not be long for the middleweight division, but his jaw could fail him should he ever face the likes of 168-lb. titlist Jeff Lacy. Still, it must be remembered that Taylor is still developing, and that his match with Hopkins came at this point in his career out of necessity, with Hopkins aiming to retire by the end of January 2006. Should the contracted rematch between Taylor and Hopkins occur, it will be interesting to see which man can adjust more in order to ensure victory. And the rematch is the best next fight for Taylor, as it will earn more money for him than any other match at the moment. Also, despite Taylor now holding the four middleweight belts, he is currently way out of Winky Wright’s league. The Scorecards I don’t know how in the world Jerry Roth saw the fight 116-112 for Hopkins. I had Hopkins winning 115-113, but I had no issue with anyone scoring it the other way around, seven rounds to five in favor of Taylor. What bothers me is that judge Duane Ford somehow felt that Jermain Taylor had won round twelve. Had he given the stanza to Hopkins, the fight would have been a draw. I do not, however, blame Ford for Hopkins’s loss; rather, I believe that Hopkins put himself in a poor position, having dropped too many rounds early and by not dropping Taylor late. 10. A few final notes on Hopkins/Taylor: I don’t know how bad the cut was, but they made a wise choice in attending to the bleeding and letting the result be decided in the ring. Also, Hopkins must have at least had a slight idea as to his needing to take advantage of every moment remaining … he and Taylor didn’t do the customary touching of gloves at the beginning of the final round.