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New champion Taylor looking forward to rematch

Posted on: Sunday, 17 July 2005, 16:10 CDT

By Michael Katz

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Jermain Taylor is looking forward to a rematch with Bernard Hopkins after winning their middleweight title fight with a split decision on Saturday.

"I learned so much I can't wait for the rematch," said the undefeated 2000 Olympic bronze medallist from Little Rock, Arkansas, who raised his pro record to 24-0 with 17 knockouts.

"He's an awesome fighter. I believe I did enough to win, but I was real nervous. Believe me, I can't wait for the rematch."

Hopkins, having lost for the first time in over 12 years, says he wants a rematch so maybe the judges will get it right.

"Judges are human and they can be wrong," said Hopkins. "I'm a big boy. I know I won. I can go home with that."

The 12-round bout, which ended Hopkins's division record for successful defenses at 20, was controversial and tense.

It was not very exciting, though. There were no knockdowns and an unusually low number of punches thrown as both boxers spent long spells exchanging feints.

The date for a rematch had been pencilled in for October 1 at the same MGM Grand Garden arena.

However, that is unlikely since Lou DiBella, Taylor's promoter, said the new 26-year-old champion had to have 15 stitches on the left side of his head and suffered concussion from an accidental clash of heads in the fifth round.

DiBella said Taylor, who will not be allowed to have contact for at least 45 days, still wants the rematch, although it would probably be put off until November or December.

NEXT TIME

Hopkins said he would exercise the clause for the rematch. The 40-year-old future hall of famer, who has spent much of his career battling promoters, said: "I'll do everything the same except next time I'll knock him out."

Hopkins, 46-3-1 with 32 knockouts and now 25-1-1 since losing to Roy Jones Jr in 1993, started slowly, as usual, throwing few punches and allowing Taylor to dominate the early rounds with his jab.

According to CompuBox, Hopkins outpunched Taylor during the fight, landing 96 of 326 punches to the challenger's 86 of 453.

But the figures show that Hopkins outlanded Taylor 56-23 over the last four rounds, meaning he landed only 40 punches over the first eight rounds, an average of five a round.

Hopkins said he dominated the fight after the fifth or sixth round, possibly because Taylor suffered concussion from the accidental butt in the fifth.

Two of the three experienced Las Vegas judges gave Hopkins five of the final six rounds. But the other judge, the highly respected Duane Ford, gave Hopkins only four of the six.

He disagreed with Jerry Roth and Paul Smith by giving Taylor the final round, which most ringsiders thought Hopkins won big.

Ford, who like Smith wound up with a 115-113 score favoring Taylor, would have had the fight drawn on his card if he had scored the 12th round for the champion.

That would have made the result a split draw and Hopkins would have retained the title with a 21st successful defense. Roth had Hopkins ahead, 116-112, or eight rounds to five.

Source: REUTERS

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