Thursday, July 14, 2005 | 9:56 a.m.
Before their celebrated falling out a few years ago, New York boxing promoter Lou DiBella was aligned with middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins.
He currently promotes Jermain Taylor, the unbeaten former Olympian who hopes to hand Hopkins his first loss in more than 12 years Saturday at the MGM Grand.
It's Taylor's time to shine, DiBella said in analyzing the middleweight showdown.
"To quote Dylan, the old order is rapidly fadin'," DiBella said at the MGM this week. "Boxing needs a new, young American star, and it's going to get it in Jermain Taylor."
Taylor (23-0, 17 knockouts), who turns 27 next month, will try to knock 40-year-old Hopkins from his familiar perch as the best middleweight fighter of his era.
Hopkins (46-2-1, 32 KOs), a charismatic Philadelphia native, will put his middleweight record streak of 20 consecutive title defenses on the line, as well as his claim to the undisputed world championship.
The scheduled 12-rounder, a classic matchup between an old master and a prodigy on the threshold of stardom, will be available on HBO Pay-Per-View ($49.95).
"This is a real crossroads fight," DiBella said. "Hopkins is a Hall of Famer and a great fighter, but a great old fighter. He has definitely lost a step, while Jermain Taylor is approaching his prime.
"Come late Saturday night, we will have a new face of American boxing in Jermain Taylor. That's how significant I believe this fight is."
Taylor, a self-described "country boy" who grew up in Little Rock, Ark., began boxing at age 13 and put together a stellar amateur career that culminated with a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics.
Under the guidance of co-trainers Pat Burns and Ozell Nelson, Taylor sweated through a 10-week training camp, his longest ever, to prepare for Hopkins.
As he told reporters at a news conference Wednesday at the MGM, Taylor is more soft-spoken than the loquacious Hopkins -- who isn't? -- and though he loves boxing, he's not one to seek out the spotlight.
"As a child I had a speech problem," Taylor, a 3-2 betting underdog, said. "I was never one to talk about what I'm gonna do -- I'd just walk over and pop you in the mouth."
Hopkins, who looked sleek and extremely well-conditioned at a workout at the MGM on Tuesday, dismissed suggestions that Taylor's size -- the younger man has a larger frame than the champ -- speed or strength would give him trouble.
A student of boxing, Hopkins drew a comparison to the 1974 heavyweight title fight in which Muhammad Ali defeated George Foreman even though Foreman outweighed Ali and was considered the physically stronger of the two.
"Big is good sometimes," Hopkins said. "But bigger is not always better."
Hopkins said he plans to beat Taylor, then fight one or two more times before retiring at age 41. That would still leave him short of Joe Louis' record 25 successful title defenses in the heavyweight division.
"Jermain Taylor to me is a defense, my 21st defense," Hopkins said. "I picked him because I know I can beat him. ...
"He's gonna need more than speed, more than size, more than good looks, more than a bald head, more than being 26. To beat Bernard Hopkins, you need to be a complete fighter. Everything they're saying about him, that don't make him a complete fighter."
Taylor figures to work primarily behind his jab -- which DiBella called the best he has seen since Larry Holmes' -- and use his speed from the outside to try to keep Hopkins at bay.
Hopkins, an excellent body puncher, promised to go for the throat -- literally.
"If he's so big, then every time I throw I should hit something," Hopkins said. "I'll hit his arms, his shoulder blades ... I'm gonna try to hit him in the Adam's apple."
Burns said Taylor is physically prepared to go 25 rounds at full steam, even against a crafty fighter with an overflowing bag of tricks like Hopkins.
"Bernard has a spitball, a knuckleball -- he has Vaseline under his cap," Burns said. "But you know what? His fastball isn't what it used to be."
If youth against experience is Saturday's main storyline, the simmering bad blood between Hopkins and DiBella certainly qualifies as a compelling subplot.
The acrimony between them peaked when DiBella sued Hopkins for defamation, winning a $610,000 judgment in 2003.
Though both men are loath to say so, it appears they're still nursing a feud.
After he hailed Taylor as the "new face" of the sport this week, DiBella paused, then couldn't help but add, "God knows Hopkins' grill isn't doing much as the face of boxing."
As Hopkins addressed reporters at Wednesday's news conference, DiBella waggled his thumb and fingers to make the universal sign for blabbermouth.
Hopkins' retort: "Lou loves me, but I'm already taken."
Even as both fighters mouthed platitudes at each other Wednesday, you could almost feel the tension crackling not far below the surface.
"I admire Hopkins a lot," Taylor said. "In order to beat Hopkins, I have to respect him."
Hopkins, still a fiery public speaker, sounded a little philosophical, perhaps pondering the coming conclusion of his splendid career.
"I want you to remember the end of the book," he said, "that I went out fighting the best, that I took the risky fights with the best rewards."
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