Round by Round: Bernard Hopkins vs. Jermain Taylor.

This is the fight that the boxing world had been waiting for with great anticipation since the moment it was announced. Bernard Hopkins, ruler of the middleweight division for ten years and undefeated in twelve, at forty-years-old, could he defy the odds and post his twenty-first middleweight title defense?

Or however more or less likely one perceived it, could undefeated young gun Jermain Taylor finally cheat “The Executioner,” succeeding where so many had failed? The intensity was at an all-time high as Taylor came to the ring, focused and the arena filled with the sounds of “In the air tonight.” Hopkins’ ringwalk was characterized by a facial expression that truly brought chills. He looked as fearsome a fighter as could be as he ominously signalled his intentions towards his new challenger with his “X” sign. The stage is set, now read on for the round by round guide to Hopkins-Taylor: The fight for the undisputed middleweight championship of the world.

Round one: Hopkins races out of his corner and they face off in the ring, looking at each other and pawing out their jabs. Hopkins breaks the silence with a sharp left hook and the crowd gasps. The intensity of the occasion is awesome. Taylor answers back with a right hand to let the champion know that he is one challenger that will not be so easily dominated. Taylor’s jab is on point and piercing the champion’s guard. Taylor cracks through another right. There is punching in a clinch by both men. They circle each other again with very few jabs being thrown with any intent. Taylor presses the action more and takes the opening round.

Score: Taylor 10-9.

Round two: Taylor sticks to his jab. Hopkins is rocked by a huge right hand. Every single significant action is accompanied by a huge roar from the crowd before immense silence fills the void when the action lulls. Taylor slams in a left hook and Hopkins is doing nothing. Both land hooks at the same time but Taylor goes back to work after the collision immediately with a right hand followed by another piston-like jab. Hopkins rams home a right and Taylor responds in kind. Hopkins is telegraphing the right and Taylor is finding it simple to beat him to the punch.

Score: Taylor 10-9.

Round three: Taylor doubles up on the jab. Hopkins goes in with a right hand but Taylor’s jab is soon in his face again. Taylor misses a hook but compensates with a solid right hand to the head. They trade jabs and Hopkins gets in with another right, one of his few successes so far. Taylor is the boss behind the jab and Hopkins cannot seem to get anything going. If this is some kind of strategy from the champion, it is a curious one.

Score: Taylor 10-9.

Round four: Hopkins lands a right inside. Taylor stuns the champion with a left- right combination. Taylor’s jab is all over Hopkins when he decides to use it. Taylor glances a right off the champion’s head. There is far too much clinching interrupting the action in this round.

Score: Taylor 10-9.

Round five: Quiet first minute. Hopkins is trying different movements and approaches as it seems as if he is trying to figure out a safe way through Taylor’s armor. Could it be that the champion felt some power from the younger man early and is hesitant to force his way in? Taylor is cut by a head-butt over the left side of his head. Taylor’s right rocks Hopkins, and another clinch follows. Hopkins stings Taylor with a left hook. Hopkins bangs home two right handers and raises the stakes by going for the side of the head that Taylor’s cut sits. Taylor looks uneasy for the first time. Hopkins gets in anothe right. Taylor’s lands a massive left and Hopkins simply clowns. A big flurry from Taylor ends the round.

Score: Hopkins 10-9.

Round six: Taylor is not pressing Hopkins enough. Taylor’s jab gets in followed by yet more clinching. Taylor’s jab gets more clean action underway. Taylor flurries to the champion’s body before going back to the jab. This is a patient display from Taylor who is set in his groove and amazingly it is Hopkins who is having to figure out what to do to break through. Hopkins lands a right. Taylor is winning the fight but showing Hopkins too much respect.

Score: Taylor 10-9.

Round seven: Another quiet first minute of the round. Hopkins stings in another right hand and yet another short right hand as they come together. Taylor’s jab is in effect again but essentially, this is a waste of a round. Taylor consistently beats Hopkins to the punch but neither man does any really significant work.

Score: Taylor 10-9.

Round eight: Taylor chases Hopkins down with a left jab, left jab and right hand combination. Hopkins evades some shots finally and they trade in an exciting exchange. Hooks land from both also. Taylor rams in some hard jabs and Hopkins is warned for holding which he has been getting away with for quite some time. Taylor is still by some way the more consistent and accurate of the two.

Score: Taylor 10-9.

Round nine: Taylor’s attack opens up with a right to the body and then a left to the head. they both land jabs simultaneously. Taylor’s jab gets him back in control but Hopkins starts landing a few right hands inside. The action heats up but it is more that the crowd responds to every little thing rather than any real breakthrough action takes place.

Score: Even 10-10.

Round ten: Hopkins finally gets something going with a right-left combination. Hopkins also lands a right hand inside followed by yet another right. Taylor’s right comes into play and suddenly they are trading shots. Both land hard punches here and the action is heated. Hopkins finally does some definitive work with two huge right hands that jolt Taylor. Hopkins is hitting Taylor in the clinches but it is not being called by the referee so he is getting away with it. Hopkins closes out the round with more right hands.

Score: Hopkins 10-9.

Round eleven: Taylor tries to recover a big loss in the last round with more effective jabbing. Hopkins goes in with a hard right-left combination. Hopkins’ counter right hand looks solid and Taylor might be coming apart. It is all Bernard Hopkins in this round even more than in the previous round as he jolts Taylor again and again with right hand after right hand. Taylor tries to break the flow with a right, then a left-right combination but Hopkins does not let up with that right. Hopkins batters Taylor on the ropes in his first sustained assault that really serves as a dominating point in the fight for him.

Score: Hopkins 10-9.

Round twelve: Hopkins opens up the final round with a right hander and Taylor snaps back with a left. Hopkins comes on strong with his right-left combination before Taylor fires back with the exact same shots. Hopkins batters Taylor with a right, then a left and they end the round in a final flurry that brings the crowd to its feet and the fight to an end.

Score: Hopkins 10-9.

Official scores: 116-112 for Hopkins, 115-113 for Taylor and finally, 115-113 for the winner by split decision, and NEW undisputed middleweight champion of the world, Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor!

Writer’s note: Jermain Taylor deserved this win. I have already seen a lot of reaction that felt that Taylor was lucky and that Hopkins deserved to win. I had that sickly feeling as Taylor probably did when a champion closes out a fight the way Hopkins did, the same way that it has happened so many times: they usually end up screwing the little guy out of his just due. For the good fo boxing, I am happy to say that it did not happen this time. Taylor showed too much respect and could have pressed Hopkins more but the plain facts are that Hopkins does not get extra brownie points in a fight simply because of who he is. By virtue of the fact that he has to defend his titles means that he must perform to keep them and he did not do that. Taylor was far more consistent and if there is a rematch, Taylor will likely step in and do a much more conclusive job. Hopkins did not work for it and we have a new champion. it was not the best winning performance, but it was enough, and the right decision went to the right fighter for once.

Jim Cawkwell can be reached at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk