Bernard Hopkins, still seething over the controversial decision that saw Jermain Taylor take away his undisputed world middleweight title, says he won’t leave it to the judges in Saturday’s rematch.
”December 3 is going to rectify the system’s problems,” vowed Hopkins, who at 40 knows he has little time left to cement his status in ring history.
”This is the only fight that means something, so, yes, as far as how meaningful this fight is, this is the last fight,” he says.
Taylor ended Hopkins’ 10-year reign in the division — and the third-longest title run in boxing history — with a split decision, two judges giving him a 115-113 triumph with the third for Hopkins 116-112.
Hopkins won the final four rounds on the cards of all but one judge, but that scoring for Taylor in the 12th made the difference between a Taylor triumph and a draw that would have kept the crown in Hopkins’ hands.
”Just because you have the belts doesn’t mean you earned the belts,” Hopkins declared as both fighters escalated the pre-fight war of words.
”I go in the ring knowing I’m defending for the 22nd time. I’m not in denial. I’m defending the people’s belt. They know who won.”
Hopkins fell to 46-3 with one draw in his first loss since dropping a 12-round decision to Roy Jones in 1993.
Taylor, who improved to 24-0 with the victory, comes into the rematch with a notable increase in swagger.
Taylor seems perfectly sure that the middleweight belts are exactly where they belong.
”Bernard Hopkins was an excellent champion. Now there is a new middleweight world champion, Jermain Taylor,” he said. ”I know I didn’t prove myself the last time but I did enough to win the fight. Everybody who knows me knows I will take care of business this time.”
Taylor said he believes he’s seen all Hopkins has to offer.
”I don’t think he can do anything different this time,” Taylor said.
”He thought he could knock me out, but he found out he couldn’t.”
Taylor said he learned from the first fight and won’t be caught off guard by another late run from Hopkins.
”If it goes 12 rounds, I will win all 12. If not, it’s because they will be raising my hand after the knockout.
”I don’t intend to give my championship up anytime soon. I want to hang onto it for a long time.”
Hopkins is being trained by Naazim Richardson rather than long-time trainer Bouie Fisher. Hopkins denied reports he parted ways with Fisher over money and said he was dedicating the fight to his veteran cornerman.
Hopkins said he would adopt a similar strategy to the first fight, saying he would tweak the plan only to stop Taylor before the verdict went to the judges.
”The tweak is, I’m not going to take a chance on letting the judges beat Bernard Hopkins like they did last time,” Hopkins said.
”Jermain Taylor must get beat up and get knocked out. I believe I can’t win unless that happens.” – Sapa-AFP