Reasons why Taylor will win the second fight

[Bombardier]

I think it will be close again, but a lot of people seem to think that Hopkins will be able to improve his game but that Taylor won't. I think the big difference will be Taylor's poise in the second fight. In this one I think his greeness almost cost him the fight in the late rounds but that if it wasn't for his lapses in concntration he would have dominated bell to bell.

Hopkins has been my #1 fighter for a while now, but his age has caught up to him, and another few months isn't going to make things better. All the credit in the world goes to him though for giving Taylor this opportunity and for passing the torch like a gentleman...and hell, if he does win the rematch he could turn himself into a Rocky 3-style legend.

[Stealthic]

Hopkins fans say: Bernard will never get old!! He will only get better and improve from his mistakes! He was robbed!

Taylor fans say: So long, B-Hop!

I say: So long, B-Hop!

Taylor is hitting his pinnacle, and the beloved(suddenly) Hopkins will start the decline. This loss will eat at him mentally. Taylor has the confidence, and now the experience to hand Bernard his ass the next time they fight.

[ottoevans]

Taylor showed me a lot last fight. Hes still way way too young he drops his hands a lot his power punch is a really really wide cross that will never connext unless hes fighting a bum. And it showed me what i thought about him in the biggining that hes doesnt have the heart of a champion. He gets discouraged real easy. When the 1st time B-Hop made a face at him, it was like he stoled his soul. I knew Taylor was weak minded from his last fights when he was asked if he thought he was ready for a champioship fights and he responded by saying "i dont know, i dont think im that good" in another interview they asked him if he was ready to be the king in the middleweight division and he said "well im not sure yet"

[Super_Lightweight]

hmm

I think people are just reluctant about the change of guard. People are comfortable with Bernard. Him losing just means another great/popular fighter is on the outs, adding to an already large list:

Tito
Roy
De La Hoya
Tyson
Gatti
Mosley

[tri4ben2]

People forget that Taylor lost alot of blood in the fight, this is the reason he was tired in the last 3 rounds, when you loose that much blood in a fight, you will loose alot of energy.

Lets not get carried away here. Taylor has plenty of blood, and the blood loss is not what caused him to come apart at the end.

[ottoevans]

i guess Gatti and Vitali have super POwers cause they've bleed way more than Taylor did and they didnt slow down

[Zeroflip1]

I respectfully disagree with a few things. Hopkins didn't get a boost of confidence because of a cut. His plan was to wear out Taylor and then go at him in the later rounds. His comments after the fight prove that. He just didn't start winning rounds early enough. By the 10th round, he knew he was ready to do something about the fight and went after him. Unfortunally he didn't get this knock down.

I still don't see Taylor as a big fighter. He may have the belts now but there are plenty of people around to take that away. I think it was more of Hopkins mistake than it was Taylors skill. And I think that it will be proven in the re-match. Hopkins gets VERY determined after a loss and especially at the end of his career.

Taylor actually may get overconfident. Before the fight he was cautious and trying to learn Hopkins. After winning the belts and beating Hopkins, he may think that he has the power and skill to beat Hopkins easy again. But I believe Hopkins will be a changed man in the next fight...

Your points make sense but I just think Hopkins will be too determined to win the last fight of his career.

I agree with this, right on the money. Hopkins is NOT gonna go out on a loss. In a rematch he will KO Taylor

[BigIppoFireworks]

I dont think Taylor will win the rematch. Hopkins will study his mistakes from the first fight and come back better than ever.

Yeah one scary thing about Hopkins is when Larry Merchant asked him about Taylor's mistakes, Hopkins was emphatic in expressing that Taylor made many mistakes in the fight. Mistakes or not both of them will be better acquainted with each other.

I don't see how Hopkins will learn any more than Jermain Taylor. IMO Jermain Taylor's boxing skills are very sound and we as the audience / fan saw this when he won the rounds in the beginning due to his sheer agression / determination / superior speed. With that in mind he made some mistakes not because his style is flawed but rather he stopped doing what worked so well in the earlier rounds: 1) He stopped jabbing, 2) he stopped circling his opponent, 3) he was over anxious with stepping-in with his jabs that he smothered his own punches (especially the right cross after the jabs), 4) he dropped his left hand after jabbing.

IMO the mistakes that Jermain made were MOSTLY mental mistakes. He was probably somewhat shocked that he had to go the distance against Hopkins, and I see how the stunned Taylor stopped boxing his game in the later rounds.

I believe Taylor will be stronger / faster / younger and more importantly more confident leading to crisper punching.

[SacTown1]

I think people are just reluctant about the change of guard. People are comfortable with Bernard. Him losing just means another great/popular fighter is on the outs, adding to an already large list:

Tito
Roy
De La Hoya
Tyson
Gatti
Mosley

GREAT CALL, it's time for the new generation to take over....we need new rivalries to spark more interest in the sport (think if Hatton, Floyd, & Cotto had a round robin tourney in '06-'07), these old cats are taking up space and the new breed are kickin' em out of the kennel!

[PRboxingfan]

Personally I think Hopkins should've gotten the decision because it is who last in the end that matters. Obviously, Hopkins was schooling Taylor in all of the later rounds.

It is not "who last in the end that matters." It is who accumulates the most points that wins. In this case, with all rounds being scored 10-9, it is the person who wins 7 rounds that wins the fight. That was Taylor. Hopkins started too late.