Monday, July 18, 2005 | 9:37 a.m.
New world champion Jermain Taylor and Bernard Hopkins plan to reprise their middleweight title fight, perhaps this fall in Las Vegas, with both fighters promising to showcase an entirely different look the second time around.
"I did not win the fight the way I wanted to," Taylor said after wresting the undisputed middleweight championship from Hopkins by split decision Saturday night at the MGM Grand. "It did not play out the way I hoped.
"In the rematch you'll see a totally different fight."
HBO Sports, which broadcast Saturday's pay-per-view show, is holding October 1 for a possible Taylor-Hopkins rematch, according to promoters with Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, which presented Saturday's card, though no firm announcement was made.
The contract for Saturday's fight contained a rematch clause, which Hopkins said he was eager to exercise.
Both fighters and the promoters said they hoped to hold the rematch in Las Vegas, with De La Hoya pointing out that the matchup, originally dismissed by some as an "East Coast fight," was a big success on the Strip.
Taylor, of Little Rock, Ark., and Hopkins, of Philadelphia, each had contingents of fans in the crowd of 11,992 at the Grand Garden Arena.
Taylor (24-0, 17 knockouts), 26, handed 40-year-old Hopkins his first loss since 1993, but afterward offered an extended critique of his own performance.
"I have never experienced anything like this," said Taylor, billed as the rising star in the pairing of youth versus experience. "I learned so much. ...
"I should have cut off the ring more. I should have thrown a lot more body shots. ... I should have had my hands out more. ...
"(Hopkins) is a very smart fighter. He's not a big puncher, just an accurate puncher."
Taylor stopped Hopkins' middleweight division record streak of 20 consecutive title defenses by starting quickly, establishing his jab and scoring with his left hook.
The younger man clearly got the better of Hopkins through the first half of the fight, but he allowed the longtime middleweight king to finish with a strong rally in the final six rounds.
"From the fifth round on, it was a clinic," Hopkins (46-3-1, 32 KOs) said, though Taylor looked good enough in the fifth to take the round on two of the judges' scorecards.
Judges Duane Ford and Paul Smith scored the fight 115-113 for Taylor, and Jerry Roth had it 116-112 in favor of Hopkins. Smith awarded each of the first six rounds to Taylor, and Ford was the only judge to score the 12th round in favor of Taylor.
Had Ford given the 12th to Hopkins, the fight would have been a draw.
"(In the rematch) I guess I'll have to pick it up in the last round," Hopkins said.
The Sun's scorecard had it a draw, 114-114.
Hopkins disputed the decision and said in his heart he believes he still deserves to be champion.
"I'm not gonna say the decision is good for boxing, but rivalries are," Hopkins said. "I'll sharpen things up that I should have done, and we'll do it again. That's what great champions do -- they come back."
It appeared that Hopkins won most of his rounds more decisively than Taylor won his.
According to CompuBox punch statistics, Hopkins connected on more punches (96-for-326, 27 percent) than Taylor (86-for-453, 19 percent) and more power punches (78 to 50).
Taylor had a big edge in jabs connected (36 to 18), but Hopkins outlanded Taylor in overall punches in the final four rounds, 56 to 23.
There were no knockdowns in the fight, though Hopkins said he thought one of his punches briefly knocked Taylor cold on his feet.
"When I fought Roy Jones in '93, I know I lost," Hopkins said of his most recent prior defeat. "I prepared myself never to be in that situation again. ...
"(Taylor) has the belts, but he knows he didn't get it the way he's supposed to get it. ...
"I'm the champion until Jermain Taylor wins the way people want him to win."
Though the 12th round's most dramatic moments had Hopkins teeing off on Taylor with big overhand rights, Taylor said he thought he did enough to eke out an edge in the round.
"I thought the 12th round was a bite-down moment ... leave it all out there and whatever happens, happens," Taylor said. "In that 12th round, I just got the energy from somewhere. I do feel I pulled out the 12th round."
Taylor had to contend with the scrappy Hopkins' short punches during clinches and even some blows behind the head, but a deep cut in the scalp that Taylor sustained was from an accidental head butt in the fifth round.
"He's a smart, dirty fighter," Taylor said. "He was holding in clinches, and I got called for the holding. You'll see me doing that next time. Watch me."
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