If Hopkins beats Taylor do you believe there will be a 3rd fight?

[SonnyG8R]

Did anyone else here Bhop's interview with James Brown.

[tracylee]

....I totaly agree and I had Taylor winning the first fight. Nard was never one of my favorites but I always respected and kind of liked him. The bitching from him and his fans has me wanting Taylor to whip his ass tomorrow night.

Yeah, me too. The sad thing is, even if Taylor beats him convincingly, there willl be plenty of REASONS why...past his prime, wt. drained, too tight socks, abducted by aliens the night before, poor diet, God only knows.

[theironone]

as good as hop is age has to be a factor, its not an excuse its a reason.
Hopkins circa 96 - 01 imo his best years would of slaughtered taylor.
Hop has been on the slide for the last 3 years noticably.
Taylor imo won the first by a roundish, i watched it this afternoon again and had him 1 point up, however there were two or three rounds where you could have scored one way or another and not been far wrong, if those scores had been the same and gone to hop instead i still would feel the same, taylor does not overly impress me.
Overall its best for the division if he dominates b this time and wins easy by wide points or stoppage but i cant see that happening.
Hop isnt shot but he is regressing as a fighter, its not an excuse its simple fact thats why his style has changed the last 3 years or so

[tracylee]

as good as hop is age has to be a factor, its not an excuse its a reason.
Hopkins circa 96 - 01 imo his best years would of slaughtered taylor.
Hop has been on the slide for the last 3 years noticably.
Taylor imo won the first by a roundish, i watched it this afternoon again and had him 1 point up, however there were two or three rounds where you could have scored one way or another and not been far wrong, if those scores had been the same and gone to hop instead i still would feel the same, taylor does not overly impress me.
Overall its best for the division if he dominates b this time and wins easy by wide points or stoppage but i cant see that happening.
Hop isnt shot but he is regressing as a fighter, its not an excuse its simple fact thats why his style has changed the last 3 years or so

Although thats true, none of that has caused him to lose a fight. He's been unbeaten for yr's until Taylor came along...that alone should impress many fans I would think. Doing what nobody else has been able to do says alot.

[theironone]

yes it does to a degree but its the way you beat someone too, squeaking out a decision over a 40 year old champ is not as impressive as out-boxing, out-fighting, stopping etc the same champ in his prime.
i think his age has contributed alot to how he fights and contributed towards that loss, obviously jermains double jab and work rate helped early on but if it had been the younger hop he would have beaten taylor in july.
Taylor is the best hops fought for a couple of years but unless he wins clearly tonight i will still have reservasions about him being able to stay no1 for long

[tracylee]

yes it does to a degree but its the way you beat someone too, squeaking out a decision over a 40 year old champ is not as impressive as out-boxing, out-fighting, stopping etc the same champ in his prime.
i think his age has contributed alot to how he fights and contributed towards that loss, obviously jermains double jab and work rate helped early on but if it had been the younger hop he would have beaten taylor in july.
Taylor is the best hops fought for a couple of years but unless he wins clearly tonight i will still have reservasions about him being able to stay no1 for long

All true, but, if you are going to take Nards age and amazing record into consideration, then alteast take into consideration Taylors age and lack of experience. He's still very young, very green, with alot of room for improvement. I'm not saying he'll rule as middle king forever or even successfully defend it once..I am saying that beating the king, as inexperienced as he is at this time and level..is a great way to start. Who knows what the future might hold, and theres a big gap in the division if Nard wins and retires immediately after isnt there?

[theironone]

hes young but its not like hes 20 is it, he had a good pedigree as an amateur and 20 odd fights is a good amount of fights as a pro.
I also think hes in the wrong weight division imo he should be 168.
If hop wins retires as he said he will come late january then its left to taylor and wright (assuming he wins against sam) to determine who the new no1 is.
Like i said before it IS better for the future of the division if taylor stamps his authority in this fight and shows the world that he is the genuine no1, however if he loses a close one hes got to pick up the pieces and re-establish himself.
for me he needs to win this fight big to show me he has a good chance of staying up there

[Manfredo Jr]

i think if hopkins win , there will be another fight and tht will be the end, and if taylor wins i doubt there will be another fight

[tracylee]

hes young but its not like hes 20 is it, he had a good pedigree as an amateur and 20 odd fights is a good amount of fights as a pro.
I also think hes in the wrong weight division imo he should be 168.
If hop wins retires as he said he will come late january then its left to taylor and wright (assuming he wins against sam) to determine who the new no1 is.
Like i said before it IS better for the future of the division if taylor stamps his authority in this fight and shows the world that he is the genuine no1, however if he loses a close one hes got to pick up the pieces and re-establish himself.
for me he needs to win this fight big to show me he has a good chance of staying up there

well he's not exactly a young pup, but only 27. And youre right, 24 pro fights doenst make him a newbie, but thats nothing compared to Nards 51 fights. I do agree he should move up to S. Middle evuentally though. I think he'd be more natural at that wt . My main point is pretty much the same thing you already pointed out...that out of those 24 pro fights, Nard was the only real "stiff" competition so far. I think he handled himself well considering who he was fighting and the pressure/excitement/expectations of the fans and the crowd, etc. I do wish he beat Nard by a larger margin (I only had him up a rd. or two too) and hope he really REALLY dominates him tonight. I think him being top dog would be good for the sport and the division. I'd much rather he be the middle wt. champ than winky...as nice a guy as winky is, he's just not as exciting. But, on the other hand, winkys also spent most of his career being underappreciated and avoided, so he deserves alot of glory before he finally hangs up his gloves. Fair or not, the way I see it is Nards had his time to shine...plenty of it, and it's time for some new blood. Either winky or taylor, it couldnt happen to nicer guys.

[CHICO_4LIFE]

it will depend how the fight ends, if hopkins knocks him out early or wins by a big margin on the scorecards then i dont think there'll be a 3rd fight ( unless theres a rematch clause in the contract) but if its another close fight then there MIGHT be a 3rd.