Bernard Hopkins v. Jermain Taylor

[WMR]

Anyone planning to watch it? Should be a good one.

Predictions?

I say Bernard comes out like he means business this time and whoops the young kid's butt.

[Jaycint]

I probably won't watch but I really hope Taylor beats Hopkin's a$$ fair and square with a knockout right in the middle of the ring. I appreciate everything Hopkins has overcome in his life and I think he was a great champ but I'm getting really sick of his mouth.

[WMR]

I take it you didn't hear Jermain Taylor on the Jim Rome Show? I was actually a big Taylor fan, but he really really really lost me after that interview.

[WMR]

Plus I do think that B-Hop was the better fighter in the 1st fight; he just *****-footed around thinking he could win it w/o actually going out there and seizing the fight.

[Jaycint]

Yeah I heard Taylor on Rome, I don't blame him for coming off the way he did, the guy is pissed. Other than giving him the least little bit of credit for winning their last match all Hopkins did was cry about how he was robbed, terrible decision, blah blah blah.

I guess I just want Taylor to beat him with a solid knockout in like 5 rounds so I can hear Hopkins come on Rome afterwards and explain it all away again and tell us how he actually won the fight.

It's a beef I have with boxing in general really. I know it takes a different mindset to be a boxer, a supremely confident and borderline arrogant one, but when a guy beats you be man enough to say he was better that night. You rarely see the post fight press conference where a guy has the stones to admit that and it irritates me.

[WMR]

I wasn't talking about that; I was talking about what he said in regards to the T.O. situation; how it is a lynching, all sorts of wild crap; he sounded like a total idiot, IMO, and he said some really dumb things about McNabb, the Eagles, he actually implied some quite negative stereotypes against white people... it really turned me off.

[Jaycint]

I wasn't talking about that; I was talking about what he said in regards to the T.O. situation; how it is a lynching, all sorts of wild crap; he sounded like a total idiot, IMO, and he said some really dumb things about McNabb, the Eagles, he actually implied some quite negative stereotypes against white people... it really turned me off.

I must have missed that portion of the interview, that definitely would have turned me off too. Particularly the last part.

[WMR]

I literally couldn't believe my ears, Jaycint.

It was at the very very end of the show; and there must have been an absolute deluge of emails and phone calls b/c Rome said as much and that people would have to wait until tomorrow to vent.

[OldRightHander]

We don't watch much boxing in our house, mostly because my wife absolutely can't tolerate it. She'll watch football or hockey with me, but that's about it. Anyway, they had some fights on either ESPN or Fox Sports not too long ago and it was a night when my wife was working. I don't remember the names of any of the fighters, but there was one match that was fairly entertaining. It was in one of the lighter weight classes, guys around 150 lbs. or so. Anyway, one guy was really getting whipped. I think he even got knocked down a couple times. He was pretty game and was still getting some punches in, but his opponent was really tagging him and he was getting wobbly when the last round ended. The announcers were already talking about how the other guy dominated the fight and should win easily, but then they gave the win to the guy who got his kicked up and down the ring. There is no way he should have won. I don't understand this sport sometimes.

[Big Donkey]

I like Hopkins in the rematch. It's too bad his amazing streak of title defenses came to an end in the last battle, but it was his own fault for not pressing the issue right until the end. I personally think he did win the decision, but you never wanna leave it in the judges' hands.

[Jaycint]

I didn't get to see it but from what I've read it musta been a pretty hard fought match once again. No split decision this time. Wonder if Hopkins will admit Taylor was better this time?

[Cedric]

Of course he won't. Taylor needs to fight Winky Wright and destroy him, then destroy Lacy in two years. Nobody gives him respect, I don't know when they will.

[WMR]

I watched the fight. It was a somewhat boring fight, in the opinion of just about everybody.

I will say that, for my $.02, Taylor clearly won the fight.

Hopkins can say whatever he want, but his style of fight is just very boring.

However: Taylor still looked very amateurish in his victory.

Winky Wright will be a very very very tough match-up for Taylor as his technical skills stand right now. That should be the next fight.

[Dom Heffner]

Taylor needs to fight Winky Wright and destroy him

Jermain Taylor is my favorite boxer, but he wouldn't stand a chance against Winky Wright. Winky is probably the first or second best pound for pound fighter in the world right now. No one wants to fight him.

Wily Mo- I thought that was B-Hop that said that about T.O., not Jermain Taylor. Hopkins and Owens are good friens, aren't they?

[Cedric]

Actually nobody really thinks Winky could compete with Taylor. Taylor is the best middleweight in the world. He's tall, athletic, and has a tremendous chin. I don't see how anyone that really loves the sport of boxing could call last night boring, that was a great technicial fight. People today just want slugfests and that's not boxing. If you watch a Hop vs Taylor fight you are going to see two of the best tactical fighters in the sport and you should be thrilled for it. Winky is an incredible defensive fighter but he isn't big enough or fast enough to beat Jermain.