that the 12th round didn't go to to Hopkins on all three cards? I'm sure some of you are aware of this but I wasn't until today. the night of the fight I had it even however I've really believed since then that Hopkins edged it by a round mabey two. I watched it again today after noticing on boxrec that of the 20 unofficial scorecards on record only 2 had Taylor winning. I was surprised, I always thought I was in the minority. But after watching the fight I was just really curious to see which one of those early swing rounds was the difference and to my amazement it was the 12th round that made the difference in B-hop leaving with the belts or not. I found this really suspicious, at the time it was pretty evident that hbo wanted Hopkins gone due to fighting style and personality(just listen to the commenters through 8 rounds and tell me they're unbiased) and clearly Taylor was the perfect guy to take over for many reasons but I'm curious to see what you guys think. Did Duane Ford decide the 12th round honestly or did he not want to turn in an even scorecard ?what were your opinions on the 12th round/fight itself ?
here are the score sheets and boxrec page https://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://boxingscorecards.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Hopkins-Taylor-Scorecards.jpg&imgrefurl=http://boxingscorecards.com/hopkins-vs-taylor-2005/&docid=1qThmU4zDi92IM&tbnid=DRReaj0gNUFaHM:&vet=1&w=999&h=748&source=sh/x/im http://boxrec.com/media/index.php/Bernard_Hopkins_vs._Jermain_Taylor_(1st_meeting)
If my memory is reliable here, the 12th was a pretty obvious Hopkins round. I scored the first fight for him after he lost most or all of the first five sessions on the scorecard I was keeping, but, funnily enough, scored the rematch for Taylor.
I totally agree think Hopkins won the 1st and lost the 2nd fight. And trust me bro I don't post a lot at all I just enjoy reading sh*t but That's why I had to come ask opinions Hopkins really won the 12th big and to think everyone gave him the last four rounds except Ford. Fight would have been a draw.
Last I watched I think I had it a draw, or Taylor 7-5. Hopkins was spotting Taylor rounds left and right with inactivity.
I don’t remember the 12th round specifically but I seem to recall that the fight was close but Hopkins edged it. The scores were controversial but not the worse by any means. I believe Hopkins run at middleweight, while impressive at the time, looks even better in retrospect. His surly personality did little to endear himself to fans and fighting style lacked the razzmatazz when compared to the other big names at the time. I think he also lost some shine when on a split screen with Roy - “Bernard, I left middleweight so you could get a belt. 60/40 and I whoop your ass!” Bernard didn’t have a comeback for that. I think the industry was having Hopkins fatigue and with Taylor being a likable Olympian some thumbs were applied to the scales, consciously or unconsciously, to anoint jermain and get rid of Bernard.
Nothing happens for the first minute, then Hopkins lands a sneaky right that catches Taylor and buzzes him for 5 seconds but without him showing exaggerated distress; Hopkins refuses to take more chances to press his advantage, and the remaining 2 minutes are pretty uneventful. Hopkins should have won the rd because Taylor was mostly defensive throughout, yet failed to show any urgency in a fight he had surrendered the first part of. So i do think there was home cooking involved, but Hopkins allowed it to take place in a very, very close fight against a very popular fighter. He only has himself to blame.
