Hopkins confident with legacy

Monday, Dec. 5, 2005 | 8:33 a.m.

Although he lost both of them, Bernard Hopkins believes his two bouts this year with Jermain Taylor will help shape his legacy and define his career as one of the most distinguished in the history of boxing's middleweight division.

"The two fights will be analyzed in boxing as the years go by," Hopkins said after dropping a close but unanimous decision to Taylor on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

"They will look at (how) Bernard Hopkins fought 24 rounds" against a much younger opponent, yet "did enough to prove he could be champion."

Hopkins, who turns 41 next month, sustained his first loss in 12 years to Taylor in July at the MGM Grand, a split decision Hopkins viciously disputed. In the stretch since his previous defeat, to Roy Jones Jr. in 1993, Hopkins had owned the middleweight class.

In Saturday's rematch, Taylor, 27, withstood an extended rally by Hopkins in the second half of the fight to retain his world middleweight title. All three judges scored the 12-rounder 115-113. The Sun's scorecard also had it 115-113 for Taylor.

"Hopkins is a very clever fighter," Taylor (25-0, 17 knockouts) said. "He's very difficult to hit. I give him a lot of credit."

Taylor's promoter Lou DiBella, who has an acrimonious relationship with Hopkins, was impressed by Hopkins' performance in what was likely the last big fight of his career.

"The old man can still fight his (behind) off," DiBella said. "But I thought the scoring was fair. I thought the kid (Taylor) fought a smarter fight."

Oscar De La Hoya, who co-promoted the fight under his Golden Boy Promotions banner, said he had Hopkins winning a close decision.

"You have to admire Hopkins," De La Hoya said. "I was thinking, this guy is 40 years old? Unbelievable."

After their back-to-back encounters in Las Vegas, Taylor and Hopkins will probably take on lesser opponents in their next bouts in their hometowns.

For Hopkins, that could mean a farewell fight in his native Philadelphia, and for Taylor a homecoming in Little Rock, Ark., to celebrate his coronation as middleweight champ. After that, a megafight against former 154-pound champ Winky Wright is a possibility.

Any fighter hoping to approach Hopkins' long run atop the division had better be an ascetic like himself, Hopkins (46-4-1, 32 KOs) said.

Most boxers stop worrying about those "two or three extra pounds" they gain as they age, Hopkins said.

"It's hard for an individual to maintain that (focus) year after year after year," he said.

The tempo of Saturday's rematch mirrored that of the first fight, with Taylor dominating the early rounds on the judges' cards and Hopkins dictating a more frenetic pace in the final six rounds.

The difference came in the 11th round, which Taylor swept on the scorecards, using his jab to set up stinging combinations and straight rights.

"When I went back to the corner (before the 11th), coach (trainer Pat Burns) said, you gotta pick it up," Taylor said. "I probably overexerted myself, but I gave it all I had, man."

Hopkins sent mixed signals in an interview after the fight, at times sounding wistful and nostalgic about his 17-year pro career drawing to a close, but then speculating about pursuing a "dream match" against light heavyweight star Antonio Tarver.

On a night his own fighter proved any doubters wrong about his rightful claim to the middleweight crown, DiBella had a fitting epilogue for the former champion.

"Bernard will be remembered as one of the craftiest, smartest, dirtiest, and one of the greatest middleweights of all time," he said.

Jeff Haney can be reached at 259-4041 or at haney@lasvegassun.com.