LAST EDITED ON 07-19-05 AT 00:19 AM (EST)

Though it is unrelated to The Contender, I thought it would be a good discussion post.

I was somewhat surprised by the result of the fight. When the decision was being announced "for the winner by split decision", in my head I was saying "and still the middleweight champion of the world..."! Bernard dictated the pace the entire fight. Yes, he was inactive early on, and he did not throw many punches and JT was more aggressive, however I thought that
B-Hop showed excellent defense and movement, he was hard to hit and he was moving his body and head very well making it hard for JT to hit him, and making JT do some head-hunting. This also was reflected in the punch stats where overall JT threw more but B-Hop landed more and at a higher connect rate. It is not how many punches you throw but what you throw and what gets through! By the mid-point of the fight or just after the mid-point, JT's jab became almost non-existent, and B-Hop did a good job of neutralizing it. The only thing that could have hurt B-Hop early on was his inactivity, and even still, a couple of the early rounds were very close. By the 8th round, B-Hop began moving JT back a little, and he really began landing some good and solid power punches. JT's corner was concerned after the 10th round, and very concerned after the 11th, and they were saying he NEEDED the 12th! B-Hop hurt him in the 10th round, he hurt him again a little in the 11th and he hurt him bad in the 12th after landing a couple of shots that led to a big uppercut in the middle of that flurry.

Those who say JT clearly won, think about it this way:

- The determining factor of JT winning that fight according to the judges' scorecards was the gross misjudgement and incompetence of judge Duane Ford who gave the 12th round to JT. Otherwise, by the cards it was a draw, though I still feel that Hopkins won the fight; I had it 116-114, broken down like this:

Round: Taylor Hopkins

1: 10 10
2: 10 9
3: 10 9
4: 10 10
5: 9 10
6: 10 9
7: 10 9
8: 9 10
9: 9 10
10: 9 10
11: 9 10
12: 9 10

On another note: could Duane Ford be in some doo-doo?

"Marc Ratner, executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, has commented on the scoring of the twelfth round of Saturday's Taylor-Hopkins bout in Las Vegas. " (Duane Ford) and I will watch the tape together soon," Ratner told the Philadelphia Daily News. "From my vantage point, though, there is no question Bernard won the 12th round." He also told the paper there is no basis to overturn the decision."

http://www.fightnews.com/fightnews_2/headlines//EEkEZpyVFAvNuapIGU.html