Taylor defends tonight against Ouma!

Live tonight from the Alltel Arena in Little Rock, AR, home town favorite and World Middleweight Champion Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor will make the third defense of hit title against Former IBF Jr Middleweight titlist Kasim "The Dream" Ouma.

Taylor last fought on June 17 of this in Memphis, Tennessee against Winky Wright. Taylor and Wright fought to a split draw, in an exciting tussle that sparked plenty of controversy regarding the result. Ouma's last fight took place on August 5 of this year, at the Theater in Madison Square Garden, when Ouma won a ten round unanimous decision over Sechew Powell.

Ouma is moving up in weight to 160lbs for the opportunity to fight for the middleweight championship. His chances, however, would appear to be slim, as he seems to lack the necessary punching power to put Taylor in any type of jeopardy.

In the jr middleweight division, Ouma, who had a high punch output and let his hands go frequently, was not known for his punching power. With the move to middleweight, I do not know what is going to change that.

Ouma's best chance is to try to get inside Taylor's reach advantage, pressure him on the inside, and let his hands go once he is inside Taylor's range. He will have to try to outwork and hopefully outpoint Taylor, but considering the fact that this fight is staged in Taylor's hometown of Little Rock, the chances of Ouma winning a decision are slim to none (and slim left town last Tuesday).

Bernard Hopkins couldn't retain his title in a close fight against Taylor, when he dropped a close split decision to the challenger in July 2005. Wright couldn't get a close decision in Memphis, when he challenged Taylor this past June. I can't see Ouma getting a decision against Taylor in his hometown of Arkansas tonight.

My prediction is that Jermain Taylor is going to win in one way or another. Either a unanimous decision, or a late stoppage. I can see Taylor knocking Ouma out.