Jermain Taylor vs Bernard Hopkins III.... how does it play out?

atsch That's absurd, I had Hopkins narrowly winning both their fights. Even if you score them to Taylor you can hardly say he has his number.

 

Taylor wins another decision; close but clearer than the previous two.

Hopkins showed a lot of promise in his last fight, but a lot of that was Pavlik's faults allowing Hop to shine.

Taylor's combination of power and speed was always the downfall of Hopkins in their fights; he's fast enough that Hopkins can't time him as well, and strong enough to keep Hop at bay.

Since their last fight, Taylor has also become a smarter fighter who has gone back to what made him a force to begin with - his awesome jab. Not to mention after Hopkins/Pavlik, Taylor hinted that he admired Hopkins' performance and even showed glimpses of a Hopkins-like style against Lacy, timing Jeff on the way in, countering accurately, tying up, and staying active in the clinch.

Hopkins has little to lose from a third fight but I can't see why Taylor would bother with it. Hopkins frustrated him endlessly their first two fights, and this frustration/lack of confidence arguably carried over into Taylor's other title defenses. He seems to be getting over it finally and wouldn't benefit from re-initiating that relationship.

 

At 170, B-Hop all day. He's better at 170 then he was at 160. He's got more pop and seems to have better stamina. JT will also be a tad slower. Probably a SD for Hopkins and very close fight.

 

Same exactly as their 1st 2 fights - boring ****.