Weekend Recap: Emmanuel Taylor Wins, BHop Makes History

by Gautham Nagesh

It was a packed weekend for boxing, and I was busy getting my injured ankle treated back in Michigan, so no posts. However, I did watch the fights for my duties at the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, so here’s our wrap on the weekend’s action, which went pretty much according to the script:

ESPN Friday Night Fights from 

Local junior welterweight Emmanuel “Tranzforma” Taylor registered his second straight win on national TV by stopping Victor Cayo in the 8th round of the main event on ESPN. Cayo stayed true to form by battling early, dropping Taylor in the 4th round, but once again faded down the stretch. Much of the credit must go to Taylor, who punished Cayo’s body early in the fight. Straight right hands finally wound up ending the evening, giving Taylor his best win to date. He is officially someone to watch at 140 lbs. I missed the opening bout, an apparent barnburner that saw heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov stop Victor Bisbal in the 5th round.

Mexican junior middleweight Hugo Centeno has the look of a real prospect, but he didn’t overly impress against KeAndrae Leatherwood. Puerto Rico’s Braulio Santo blew out Kevin Hoskins in the opener, needing just over a minute to decimate his opponent with sharp left hooks.

Bernard Hopkins made history once again, defying Father Time to out-wit Tavoris Cloud over 12 rounds. Some will claim Hopkins is the oldest man to win a world title, but that would convey some legitimacy on the meaningless alphabet body trinket he won from Cloud, something we want to avoid.

BHop’s win should be appreciated for what it is: further testament to the old man’s skill, strength of will and staying power. That he can still beat almost anyone in the light heavyweight division is no doubt impressive, but Chad Dawson remains the real champ at 175 lbs. Hopkins has little chance of defeating him, and will probably look for one last big money fight, potentially against the winner of Mikkel Kessler vs. Carl Froch.

This post was re-published on May 23, 2013.