JO Sports Inc.
HISTORY: On April 14, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York Bernard Hopkins and Keith Holmes fought in a middleweight title unification bout. Hopkins won a unanimous 12 round decision. This fight marked the first round of the 2001 Middleweight Unification Tournament. Hopkins entered the tournament as the IBF Middleweight Champion, and Holmes was the WBC Middleweight Champion. The New York Times reported: Hopkins controlled Saturday's fight from the third round, winning easily on all three judges' scorecards. There were no knockdowns, but Hopkins dictated the action with a sustained body attack and rattled Holmes several times with punches to the head. The biggest problem for Hopkins on Saturday was avoiding hitting Holmes with low blows. Hopkins complained before the fight that Holmes wore his trunks too high, and his concern about being penalized for low blows proved to be valid. With 48 seconds left in the fifth round, a point was taken from Hopkins for a low blow, and on two other occasions, timeouts were given to Holmes after he complained of low blows. In Hopkins's mind, Holmes wearing his trunks high made it difficult to avoid hitting him below the belt. "The guy had turtleneck trunks on," Hopkins said. "If a man brings a turtleneck into the ring, what are you going to do? Maybe one or two of the blows were low, but they weren't intentional. I couldn't let it bother my game plan." After 11 rounds, HBO's unofficial judge Harold Lederman's scorecard had Hopkins up 109-99. On May 12, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York WBA Middleweight Champion William Joppy defended his title against Felix Trinidad . Trinidad stopped Joppy in the 5th round to win the title.
Offered here is a scarce, original, official program for this event.
FULL DESCRIPTION: This is an original, official program which names and pictures the fighters on the cover. 28 pages complete including covers. Not scored. Tight binding. Clean inside and out. Mild creasing. No tears. 8 1/4" x 11."
