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Saturday, February 2
 
Hopkins defends titles, calls for fight with Jones

Associated Press

READING, Pa. -- Bernard Hopkins is ready for Roy Jones Jr.

Bernard Hopkins
Bernard Hopkins, left, had little trouble landing blows on Carl Daniels.

Hopkins stopped Carl Daniels in the 10th round to retain the undisputed middleweight championship Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 8,243 at the Sovereign Center.

It was the 15th consecutive defense of at least a piece of the middleweight title for Hopkins, breaking the middleweight record of 14 set by Carlos Monzon. Hopkins was IBF and WBC champion when he defeated previously unbeaten Felix Trinidad to become the undisputed middleweight champion four months ago. He has held at least one title since 1995.

"I want Roy Jones," Hopkins said of the undisputed light heavyweight champion. "He better box me or he's going to be a hypocrite."

Hopkins (41-2-1 with 30 knockouts) spun Daniels around with a body shot early in the ninth round that sent him staggering into his corner. Hopkins then landed a flurry of punches, included a shot behind Daniels' right ear, to take control of the fight.

After the round, Hopkins -- nicknamed "The Executioner" -- looked at the crowd, and did a slashing gesture across his throat.

He put Daniels away with two rights late in the 10th, and Daniels told his corner to stop the match before the 11th.

"He was just too strong," Daniels said. "He hit me behind the ear and it dazed me. I couldn't get it back together. At the end of the 10th, I was still dazed, I was done."

Hopkins would've won every round on each of the judge's scorecards except one judge scored the 10th round a tie.

The 37-year-old Hopkins -- a Philadelphia native -- had his sights set on Jones even before this match. Jones stopped Glen Kelly in the seventh round in Miami to retain the WBA, WBC and IBF titles in the second part of the split-site doubleheader televised by HBO.

Jones and Hopkins could fight in June. But no contract has been signed. Hopkins isn't willing to move up too much in weight to fight Jones, and wants a 50-50 purse split -- something Jones likely won't agree to do.

Hopkins lost a 12-round decision to Jones for the vacant IBF middleweight title in 1993 -- his last defeat.

"Let's split it 50-50," Hopkins said. "Let's do the fight by June at a reasonable catch weight."

Hopkins was an underdog when he knocked down Trinidad in the 12th round on Sept. 29 at Madison Square Garden to capture the WBA title, becoming the first undisputed middleweight champion since Marvin Hagler in the mid-1980s.

Daniels entered the ring confident, while Hopkins wore a white-hooded mask and remained calm. Hopkins also had stenciled on his back "Golden Palace.com" for an online Costa Rica casino.

Both fighters started to get aggressive in the third round. Hopkins first backed Daniels into the ropes, but was turned around with a left-right combination and took a right to the chin. Each landed a flurry of punches late in the round near the corner.

Hopkins stunned Daniels with a straight right early in the fourth and hurt him with a combination of punches to the head.

Daniels surprised Hopkins with a left-right combo early in the eighth, but Hopkins then landed a solid right to the mouth.

Hopkins, who weighed in at 158¾ pounds to 160 for Daniels, connected on 213 of 475 punches. Daniels landed 94 of 249.

"It's a shame the good fans couldn't see a knockout," Hopkins said. "The guy was a little awkward. I tried to execute him, but he didn't come to fight."

The victory gave Hopkins a 15-1-1 record with 11 knockouts in championship matches. Daniels, who hadn't fought since winning a 12-round decision over Brian Barbosa on Dec. 29, 2000, fell to 47-4-1.

Although he's been a champion since 1995, Hopkins has fought in the shadows of Trinidad, Jones and Oscar De La Hoya, and young fighters such as Fernando Vargas and David Reid.

"No one can take this away from me," Hopkins said. "It's great."

Undercard: Bailey scores his 25th knockout
Randall Bailey kept his knockout streak alive when he stopped Demetrio Ceballos at 1:03 of the third round to win the interim WBA super lightweight title on the undercard of the Hopkins-Daniels fight.

The 27-year-old Bailey (25-1) has won all of his victories by knockout.

"I want (Konstantin) Tszyu," Bailey said of the undisputed champion. "I waited for him when I was a champion before and I'm waiting for him again."

Bailey stunned Ceballos (24-4) with a left jab then landed a right to the side of Ceballos' face that sent him to the floor. Ceballos told referee Rudy Battle he couldn't continue right after the count started.

"In the early rounds, I was watching his head, too worried about him butting me," Bailey said. "My trainer slapped me in the face before the third round and told me to jab. That set up the knockout."

Bailey beat Carlos Gonzalez to win the WBO title in 1999, but lost it to Ener Julio 14 months later after two successful defenses.

In other bouts, Lamon Brewster stopped Nate "The Snake" Jones at 1:10 of the third round to capture the NABO's version of the heavyweight championship. The title had been vacant.

The 28-year-old Brewster (26-2 with 23 knockouts) had won 13 of his fights in the first round. Jones fell to 18-2-1.

Carlos Quintana (12-0) stopped John Scalzi in the opening round of his first defense of the Fedecentro welterweight championship.





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