On Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, middleweight champion Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins, the master, went to school with Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor, the pupil. But it was a case of miseducation which saw Taylor awarded, undeservingly, a split decision by the judges, meaning that Taylor has won the 160-pound title and is the first man to defeat the "Executioner" in a decade.

But the victory was far from convincing. After loading up on his right hand and showing impressive hand speed in the first two rounds, Hopkins, as usual, started to turn it up a notch in about the fourth round. Granted, "turning it up a notch" in B-Hop terms might just mean finding your distance and getting ready to counter more frequently. Regardless, Hopkins landed flush short right hands throughout the fight, as evidenced by Taylor's swollen left cheek, had Taylor hurt on two occasions late in the fight, and clearly won the championship rounds.

The judges scored the fight 116-112 for Hopkins and 115-113 (twice) for Taylor. I had it 116-112 for Hopkins.

The scoring of championship fights by judges is defintely one of the black eyes of boxing; this fight was no exception. Judge Duane Ford inexplicably gave the 12th round to Taylor, had he scored it for Hopkins the fight would have been ruled a draw. Though the 26-year-old showed that he could match Hopkins' aggression and hold his own on the inside, it's absurd that he should strip Hopkins of his titles on weary legs and a stiff jab. At no point in the fight was the 40-year-old Hopkins hurt, and though he could be blamed for not pressuring Taylor earlier, he definitely did not deserve to lose to a man who was in serious danger of being stopped.

It could be said that both men did not do enough - Hopkins, 46-3-1 (32), lacked aggression in the earlier rounds while Taylor's win lacked an impressive performance that merits one to take another man's title. For Hopkins it was too little too late, but for Taylor, 24-0 (17), it was just too little. Even Taylor's attitude after the fight and his comments that he would train hard for the rematch were indictaive of someone who wasn't all that sure he had won the fight. Hopkins should not be faulted for fighting his trademark patient, counter-punching and often boring style to cater to mainstream boxing fans.

The one good thing to come out of this is the rematch, set tentatively for October 1st. The dynamics of Taylor-Hopkins II involve a potentially more exciting result, now that Hopkins is the challenger and Taylor the champion. How much is B-Hop willing to do to take his titles back? Will Taylor's confidence and experience from this fight allow him to beat Hopkins more decisively?

These are questions that will have to wait to be answered. One thing is for sure, however: Bernard Hopkins will sleep better than Jermain Taylor tonight. Hopkins knows he won the fight. Taylor may be thinking the same thing.

On the undercard, the rematch between Oscar Larios and Wayne Mccullough ended in an 11th round TKO for Larios when Dr. Margaret Goodman advised that Mccullough, 27-6 (18), was taking too much punishment and that the fight be stopped.

The fight was similar to the first one, with many punches thrown at a hectic pace, but Larios started to find his range and landed cleanly and often to Mccullough's head before Goodman intervened after the 11th. round. The "Pocket Rocket" was emotional, as this was his first ever stoppage loss, but he took it well and embraced Larios, 56-3 (36), in a genuine showing of humility which few other sports have.