Reign is Over

LAS VEGAS, NV - Jermain Taylor started quickly and held off a late rally by Bernard Hopkins to take Hopkins' middleweight title by split decision Saturday night before a roaring crowd of 11,992 at the MGM Grand.

Judges Duane Ford and Paul Smith each scored the bout 115-113 for Taylor, while the third judge, Jerry Roth, had it 116-112 for Hopkins.

"I felt like I won the fight," said Hopkins. "I baited him in and I was able to play my strategy and hit him. I can go home tonight comfortably because I know I won the fight."

Hopkins (46-3-1) raised his arms at the final bell while Taylor walked slowly to his corner. "It's who hits the most and does the most damage," Hopkins said.

Said Taylor (24-0): "In the early rounds, I did a lot to win. In the later rounds, he started coming back. He's an awesome fighter. I'll always respect him."

An unofficial ringside count reflected the closeness and shifting momentum of the bout, showing Hopkins landing 96 punches to Taylor's 86, and outlanding the challenger 56 to 23 in the last four rounds.

Taylor looked to establish his left jab in the first round, landing several, and Hopkins was content to slip without answering on offense. In the second, Taylor followed his jab with a right and a left hook to the jaw that drove Hopkins backward into the ropes. Hopkins landed a right to the head late in the round.

When Hopkins held Taylor's head down and punched him in a clinch early in the third, referee Jay Nady warned the champion.

Again in the fourth, Taylor kept advancing and Hopkins retreated, looking to counter, but was held off by Taylor's quick left jab. Hopkins' best moments were landing short shots when they were in close.

Hopkins finally initiated exchanges in the fifth, catching Taylor with lead lefts and rights to neutralize Taylor's jab. The challenger was cut high on his forehead, apparently from an accidental head butt.

With fans chanting "J.T." for Taylor in the sixth, he was again scoring his left jab and hit Hopkins with a flurry.

The action slowed in the seventh and eighth, to Hopkins' advantage. He landed a big right to the head early in the seventh, but Taylor appeared unmoved. As they clinched, Hopkins snuck in chopping punches to the head.

Hopkins' fans chanted his name in the 10th as he outworked Taylor. Late in the round, the champion rocked Taylor with left-right combinations to the head.

At the bell, the 40-year-old champion looked fresher than his 26-year-old challenger.

The crowd cheered Taylor's entrance and booed Hopkins as he stepped up to the ropes and crossed his arms in an "X," his signature "execution" gesture.

In a brawling main undercard bout, World Boxing Council 122-pound super-bantamweight champion Oscar Larios beat Wayne McCullough by technical knockout, battering the challenger until his trainer Freddie Roach brought in ringside physician Dr. Margaret Goodman and called it quits after the 10th of 12 scheduled rounds.

"I'm disappointed, but the doctor made the right call," McCullough said.

Sonny Banerjee
Editor-in-chief

Information from other publications and wire services was used in the compilation of this report.