DiBella Aims Taylor at Hopkins and Trinidad.

How does that Andy Williams holiday song go? It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Well, it was a wonderful weekend for DiBella Entertainment. Sensational middleweight contender Jermain “Bad Intentions” Taylor successfully defended his WBC Continental Americas middleweight title against former three-time World Middleweight Champion William Joppy in the main event of DiBella Entertainment’s “Season’s Beatings” this past Saturday, December 4th at Barton Coliseum in Little Rock, AR. Facing the stiffest test of his young career, Taylor dominated Joppy from the opening bell, registered a knockdown in the fifth round, and shut out the former champ on all three judges’ scorecards – 120-107 – to take a unanimous twelve-round decision.

Taylor (22-0, 16 KO’s), the United States 2000 Olympic Bronze medalist, has been a house on fire during his unbeaten pro career. “Bad Intentions” faced his sternest ring opponent in Joppy (34-4-1, 25 KO’s), the former three-time middleweight kingpin from Silver Spring, Maryland. Bad Intentions now has his sites set on the likes of Bernard Hopkins and Tito Trinidad as he joins the elite of the middleweight division.

“Jermain has finished the learning curve and is ready for anybody,” said Lou DiBella, president of DBE and Taylor’s promoter. “Jermain is willing to fight Bernard Hopkins in his next fight,” added DiBella. “If we can get a 25% split, we will take it right now. “February is awfully quick but we could do it in March or April. Ask Bernard if he wants to come out and play…Tito Trinidad would be a bigger money fight, so we’ll talk to Don King, too.”

‘Tis the season for outstanding performances, as was clearly illustrated by the other DBE fighters who fought this weekend.

One night earlier, heavyweight contender Sergei Liakhovich scored the biggest win of his career when he turned back highly-regarded Dominick Guinn in a unanimous 10-round decision at Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey in a bout televised by ESPN2. The “White Wolf”, originally from Belarus and now fighting out of Scottsdale, AZ, has emerged as a bona fide presence on the heavyweight landscape with his 22nd career victory. Brooklyn star Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi (19-0, 5 KO’s) remained undefeated with a 7th round technical unanimous decision over Italian veteran Sandro Casamonica (34-5, 21 KO’s) for the WBC International Super Lightweight Championship.

In a ten round lightweight showdown undefeated rising star Koba “The Cobra” Gogoladze (17-0, 7 KO’s) captured a split decision against Roque Cassiani (22-18-2, 15 KO’s) from San Basilio, Colombia. Also on the under card, boxing upstart and 2004 Olympian Andre Berto (1-0, 1 KO) made his dazzling pro debut with a third round TKO of Michael Robinson (2-2, 2 KO’s) of Forest, Mississippi. One of the most hotly recruited 2004 Olympic boxers, and considered an outstanding prospect, Berto, who hails from Winter Haven, Florida, represented Haiti in the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.