04.12.05 – By Goran Dragosavac: I wonder with what excuses Jermain Taylor’s critics will come up now to dispute, once again, his victory over Bernard Hopkins? Even if there were some doubts over his win in the first match, this time, he won fair and square by beating the Hopkins in at least 9 out of the 12 rounds. To be honest, Taylor was just too quick, too strong and too smart – to allow Hopkins any chances of winning. And it is almost embarrassing how the vast majority of the boxing writers got it totally wrong, making up all sorts of arguments of why and how Hopkins should win. Well, he didn’t win, and all the arguments were just a wishful thinking and reluctance to let it go and admit that Bernard Hopkins is a former champion.
There was nothing wrong with Bernard’s performance last night. Hopkins, for the most part, was his old self, fighting the fight that got him on top for so many years. And even after the fight, he was still convinced how whole world had seen him as a winner. So, it was obvious to me, that Hopkins honestly believed that he gave a good shot at it. The problem is, that his best is just not good enough against a highly skilled opponent like Taylor.
I rarely make fight predictions, but this time, I was very certain of the Taylor winning the fight, predicting either a knockout or unanimous decision (see my previous article, “Why Taylor will win). And to be honest with all of you, I even bet on it and won a bundle.
What did surprise me in this fight was the way Taylor was controlling the fight from outside – with his jab, and on inside – by tying Hopkins up. Taylor’s switch from offence to defense was unbelievably quick and even though he was caught flat- footed on occasions, especially when retreated straight back, his fight strategy was so effective that he easily got away with a few instances when he made mistakes.
Taylor may not (yet) be the perfect boxer, but he certainly is more perfect in terms of his overall abilities than anyone else currently in middleweight division, and I just hope all his critics acknowledge him as true champion. And this time, very much undisputed.