Taylor pulls off a middleweight coup d'eat

bigben · 07-17-05, 08:54 AM

Taylor pulls off a middleweight coup d'eat - 7/17/2005
**************
It’s the natural progression of life; the young unseating the old, although it is usually more decisive.

Jermain Taylor, tiring noticeably late in the fight, did just enough to end one of the most dominant runs in boxing history - Bernard Hopkins' 20 consecutive successful defenses of the middleweight championship.

"It felt great. I felt like crying," Taylor admitted after the fight. "In the early rounds, I did a lot to win. In the later rounds, he started coming back in the fight. He's an awesome fighter, a great champion. I will always respect him."

The new champion might respect his aging predecessor. But Hopkins has no respect for the decision.

"I felt like I won the fight," Hopkins said. "What I did was bait him in and play the strategy that they thought so that I could counter him coming in. I knew it was easy to hit him when he comes in like a bull. That was my plan. From the fifth round on, I felt like I dominated the fight.”

Dominated? Absolutely not. The fight was ultra close, with ebbs and flows in most rounds. While Taylor threw 127 more punches, Hopkins outlanded him by 10 shots, 28 if we’re talking power punches.

Any way you flip it, therefore, it was a razor-thin fistic competition.

“It’s about damage,” Hopkins explained. “Ask the judges that. Look at me, I’m not the one puffed up. I believe that I should have gotten a unanimous decision. I had him on Queer Street twice, cut. I guess the only thing I did wrong was not knock him out. I believe I should have got a unanimous decision, not to mention a split decision.”

Tommy · 07-17-05, 09:11 AM

Great Run by Hopkins, but theres a new champion. Just what Boxing needed really. I missed the damn fight, I wanted to watch it but fell asleep before the fight started. Congrats whoever was on Taylor

bigben · 07-17-05, 09:38 AM

stay awake next time ben had taylor

only guy here who liked him toooooo

Tommy · 07-17-05, 09:57 AM

Nice Ben, Great call

naught33 · 07-17-05, 02:28 PM

yeah, i personally thought hopkins won....taylor was very aggressive early but he wasnt hitting hopkins too much, by the 2nd half of the fight he had nothing left and hopkins was basically landing at will...i thought in the 10th hopkins had him and was gonna put him on the mat...should be a great rematch though...nice call ben!

07-17-05, 08:54 AM	#1 (permalink)
bigben SCI Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,024	Taylor pulls off a middleweight coup d'eat Taylor pulls off a middleweight coup d'eat - 7/17/2005 ************** It’s the natural progression of life; the young unseating the old, although it is usually more decisive. Jermain Taylor, tiring noticeably late in the fight, did just enough to end one of the most dominant runs in boxing history - Bernard Hopkins' 20 consecutive successful defenses of the middleweight championship. "It felt great. I felt like crying," Taylor admitted after the fight. "In the early rounds, I did a lot to win. In the later rounds, he started coming back in the fight. He's an awesome fighter, a great champion. I will always respect him." The new champion might respect his aging predecessor. But Hopkins has no respect for the decision. "I felt like I won the fight," Hopkins said. "What I did was bait him in and play the strategy that they thought so that I could counter him coming in. I knew it was easy to hit him when he comes in like a bull. That was my plan. From the fifth round on, I felt like I dominated the fight.” Dominated? Absolutely not. The fight was ultra close, with ebbs and flows in most rounds. While Taylor threw 127 more punches, Hopkins outlanded him by 10 shots, 28 if we’re talking power punches. Any way you flip it, therefore, it was a razor-thin fistic competition. “It’s about damage,” Hopkins explained. “Ask the judges that. Look at me, I’m not the one puffed up. I believe that I should have gotten a unanimous decision. I had him on Queer Street twice, cut. I guess the only thing I did wrong was not knock him out. I believe I should have got a unanimous decision, not to mention a split decision.” __________________ Ben
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07-17-05, 09:11 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tommy Now go get your shinebox Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sportscapper Island Posts: 15,105	Great Run by Hopkins, but theres a new champion. Just what Boxing needed really. I missed the damn fight, I wanted to watch it but fell asleep before the fight started. Congrats whoever was on Taylor
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07-17-05, 09:38 AM	#3 (permalink)
bigben SCI Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 1,024	stay awake next time ben had taylor only guy here who liked him toooooo __________________ Ben
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07-17-05, 09:57 AM	#4 (permalink)
Tommy Now go get your shinebox Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Sportscapper Island Posts: 15,105	Nice Ben, Great call
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07-17-05, 02:28 PM	#5 (permalink)
naught33 SCI Forum Moderator Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Scarsdale, NY Posts: 13,666	yeah, i personally thought hopkins won....taylor was very aggressive early but he wasnt hitting hopkins too much, by the 2nd half of the fight he had nothing left and hopkins was basically landing at will...i thought in the 10th hopkins had him and was gonna put him on the mat...should be a great rematch though...nice call ben! __________________ -naught33 "You miss 100% of all the shots you don't take"-Wayne Gretzky "No one, and I mean no one, comes into our house and pushes us around"-coach from the movie Rudy
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