How could Jermain Taylor beat Hopkins twice??

[Piper the Great]

I thought BHop beat Taylor 2x but it was an out with the old inwith the nw case. Back then the boxing world hated BHop. They figured if he lost at that point of his career he would retire.

[paulf]

He used his jab and Bhop did indeed get started late. As mentioned, Hopkins gave him a lot more respect than he did Pavlik or Pascal. For whatever reason, he couldn't bully Taylor as much.

I think I gave the first fight to Bhop by a round, but after the way he had screwed Lou DiBella I was perfectly happy he lost.

[xAUGUSTUSx]

it was a style matchup problem and the flaws that were in taylor were not yet known (fading late, etc.). Taylor was also a good fighter and was young and hungry (he lost that hunger after he won the belts imo).

Hopkins started late in both fights, I believe he was giving Taylor too much respect in hindsight (Remember Taylor was considered a big puncher at the time). The first fight I recall hopkins was very cautious for the first 5 rounds.

Yea you could easily say that Hopkins is the one that first exposed Taylor's flaws. Hopkins should've won the first fight or it should've been a draw. Hopkins does have problems with guys who box off a jab. Pascal does'nt box much because he's always looking to explode. Pascal loads up too much and he can't let his hands go. No combo's at all from Pascal.

[SOPH~ REP.]

Due to a late starts , he loss to JT and At the time Boxing was ready force outta the game

[The Hammer]

It doesn't make any sense when you see how good Hopkins looks nowadays.

Whether you agree with the judges that Taylor won or not. Taylor won and Hopkins failed to impress. Hop looked quite slow and didn't throw all that many punches. But since those losses he has looked spectacular in several fights. My first thought was this version of Hopkins would punish and dominate Taylor....but maybe it was something about Taylor's style of boxing that Hopkins just couldn't figure out.

Hopkins is on PEDs now.

[ny123]

Speed plus high workrate are the keys to outpointing Hopkins.

[Jim Tom]

It doesn't make any sense when you see how good Hopkins looks nowadays.

Whether you agree with the judges that Taylor won or not. Taylor won and Hopkins failed to impress. Hop looked quite slow and didn't throw all that many punches. But since those losses he has looked spectacular in several fights. My first thought was this version of Hopkins would punish and dominate Taylor....but maybe it was something about Taylor's style of boxing that Hopkins just couldn't figure out.

He didnt Hopkins got robbed.

[Medved]

PEDS is a helleva drug

[MRBOOMER]

His height it made it difficult that he wasn't exactly tallest anymore, his speed threw Hopkins off any one with good good speed always seems to beat Hopkins in my eyes.(I don't think pascals that fast). His jab was very good in the second fight he had to make Hopkins adjust which is something most people don't throw with him cause they either don't have one or they stop him from throwing it. And Taylor was able to jab Hopkins better because he had one and his jab so he saw what Hopkins would do to try to stop it. And his heart he hadda big heart and mind set so Hopkins is kinda like Tyson with way better skill if he can't brake you he's kinda screwed. Thats why he couldn't beat young Roy, calzaghe, Taylor Oh btw all were fast..

[KingTito]

A lot of it had to do with athleticism, really you will not find to many athletes like Taylor even if he lacked some boxing polish. Another thing that version of Taylor had was a strong mindset, people forget that as he waned over the years from all the people questioning him but at that point he had a solid amount of self belief.

B-Hop thrives on breaking guys mentally, against Taylor he frustrated him and discouraged him but he was never fully able to break him.

Hopkins would still struggle against that sort of guy even now, athletic with a strong mindset he could certainly make them look pretty bad still but they would not allow B-Hop to thrive either.

Very true....