NEW YORK – Longtime IBF middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins said if he didn't knock out WBC champ Keith Holmes in their title fight Saturday night, he didn't deserve to win.

	Bernard Hopkins, left, never allowed Keith Holmes to dictate the fight's pace.

The unanimous decision will do, though.

"First of all, I did predict I would knock him out," Hopkins said. "Second of all, I lied. No more guaranteed knockouts."

Winners can afford to make jokes and Hopkins was a decisive winner in the opener of the unification series. The unanimous decision was a workmanlike job by Hopkins, who was never in trouble against Holmes.

The victory earned him a Sept. 15 date against the winner of next month's fight between WBA champ William Joppy and undefeated Felix Trinidad, who is moving up from the 154-pound division. The September fight will produce an undisputed middleweight champ.

Holmes, idle for almost a year, said he was head-butted in the first round and complained of double vision after that.

"I didn't want to throw the left because I didnn't know where he was," Holmes said. "It was really hard to see. He head-butted me in the eye in the first round. He uses his head well."

Hopkins lost a point for a low blow in the fifth round and was warned twice more after that.

"I have to fight the way I was taught to fight in Philadelphia," he said. "There might have been one or two low blows but they were not intentional.

"Immortality! That's what I'm fighting for."

Judge George Colon had it 118-109 for Hopkins. Larry Hazzard Jr. had Hopkins ahead 117-110 and Tom Kaczmack scored it 119-108.

After the fight, Holmes embraced Hopkins.

"We're two warriors and we went at it," he said. "You move on. I stay here."

Holmes said the layoff -- contract problems had kept the WBC champ idle since he defended the title April 29 -- hurt him. "If I had been busier, it might have helped me," he said.

Hopkins entered the ring wearing a hood and his nickname "Executioner" was stitched across the seat of his shorts. Holmes, wearing blue gloves, made a less theatrical entrance.

Hopkins carried the fight to Holmes early, hurting the WBC champ in the third round with a quick combination to the face.

Hopkins who has not lost since being beaten by Roy Jones Jr., on May 22, 1993, stayed on top of Holmes, never letting the left-hander dictate the fight as he pledged he would.

Hopkins caught Holmes with a low punch in the fifth round and referee Steve Smoger deducted a point from the IBF champ. Holmes went to his knees in a neutral corner and was given time to recover before the fight resumed.

In the sixth, Hopkins hurt Holmes with a combination to the body, backing his opponent on the ropes and connecting with both hands.

Smoger warned Hopkins for low blows again in the eighth round but this time did not penalize the 36-year-old champ. Again, Holmes was given time to recover in a neutral corner.

By that time, Holmes' right eye showed damage from the constant pounding by Hopkins. Holmes fought back gamely in the ninth but never had Hopkins in any trouble.

By the 11th, the fight had turned into a brawl with the fighters wrestling each other to the canvas. There were no knockdowns.

In the 12th, Hopkins went low again, causing the fight's third delay while Holmes recovered. Again, no points were deducted.

Hopkins, who weighed in at 159 pounds, improved to 39-2-1. Holmes, the two-time WBC champ, weighed 157½ and lost for just the third time in 38 fights.

In the featured undercard fight, Nelson Dieppa of Puerto Rico stopped Andy Tabanas of the Philippines at 2:24 of the 11th round to win the vacant WBO junior flyweight championship.

Dieppa caught Tabanas with a right hook to the chin, ending the fight suddenly. Tabanas remained on the canvas for several minutes and needed oxygen before he was carried off on a stretcher and taken to St. Vincent's Hospital for precautionary X-rays.

Tabanas was ahead on two of the three judges' cards when the fight ended.

The card attracted a crowd of 4,223 to the Theater at Madison Square Garden.