LAS VEGAS – Bernard Hopkins thought he’d won the toughest fight of his career and retained his undisputed middleweight championship. But when Michael Buffer read the judges’ scorecards, Hopkins’ long reign came to a stunning end before 11,992 fans at the MGM Grand Arena.
Jermain Taylor became the undisputed middleweight champion of the world last night, winning a split decision that surely will be questioned until these two meet again.
In what was clearly a close fight, judges Duane Ford and Paul Smith scored the fight 115-113 for Taylor, while Jerry Roth had Hopkins winning 116-112. The Post scored the fight 115-113 for Hopkins, with Hopkins winning the final four rounds. Smith and Roth also had Hopkins winning the final four rounds. Ford gave Taylor the 12th round, avoiding a possible draw.
At least two things now are beyond debate. Taylor, 26, is a new star in boxing, showing he could take a heavy punch, and Hopkins isn’t old yet age 40. This was simply a fight Taylor won with heart, determination and some good fortune in the judging. Don’t be surprised if the two meet in a rematch in October.
“I believe I should have gotten a unanimous decision,” said Hopkins, who had made 20 straight successful defenses of his title. “It’s who hits the most and does the most damage. I felt I did that throughout the fight. He made a lot of mistakes. . . . How could I have lost the fight?
“But the judges see differently,” Hopkins added. “The fans can decide, because the judges are always right.”
Taylor was gracious in victory.
“In the early rounds I did a lot during the fight, but in the later rounds he started coming back,” he said of Hopkins. “He’s an awesome fighter and a great champion. I’ll always respect him. I can’t wait for the rematch. I learned so much in this fight.”
Taylor (24-0, 13 KOs) seemed to win the bulk of the early rounds behind a strong left jab that he should have used more often. He stunned Hopkins with a hard right that buckled the champion’s knees in the second round.
In the fifth, a vicious clash of heads opened a cut in the hairline atop Taylor’s forehead, causing blood to stream down the challenger’s face. Though it was clearly Hopkins’ best round, Taylor showed he could take the champion’s best punch and wasn’t intimidated by the sight of his own blood.
Both fighters looked strong entering the 10th, but Hopkins seemed to turn the fight in his favor, landing a hard right that rocked Taylor. It was the first time in the fight the challenger was seriously hurt. Hopkins tried to finish him off, but Taylor did enough hugging and grabbing to survive.
“I think I won the fight,” Hopkins (46-3-1) said. “I bated him in. I was willing to play the strategy and bate him in so I could counter punch. . . . I hurt him two times and I guess the only thing I did wrong was not knock him out.”
On the under card, Vernon Forrest scored a second-round knockout over Sergio Rios in Forrest’s first fight in three years. Fernando Montiel retained his WBO junior bantamweight title with an unpopular unanimous decision over Everet Briceno; and WBC super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios earned a 10th-round TKO over Wayne McCullough.
Meanwhile, Hasim Rahman faces a tough fight with Monte Barrett on Aug. 13 in Chicago, but if he emerges victorious and injury-free, he’s confident he can be ready to face Vitali Klitschko for the WBC heavyweight championship on Sept. 24.
“With the stakes that high, I’ll have no choice but to go right out of that ring [on Aug. 13] and into a training camp,” Rahman said following a workout here yesterday afternoon.
Klitschko had petitioned to make an optional defense against someone other than the Rahman-Barrett winner. But the WBC ruled last week his next fight must be a mandatory defense against the No.1 contender
