BOXING: TAYLOR WANTS TO PROVE WORTH.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES Boxing

Jermain Taylor didn't have to defeat Bernard Hopkins to become respected and well-liked in the industry, or at home in Little Rock, Ark. Taylor, always a gentleman and class act, already was a favorite of many.

Since he defeated Hopkins via split decision in July to win the undisputed middleweight championship, however, Taylor has become even more popular.

``I don't have to pay at restaurants no more,'' he said, almost embarrassed by that, ``everything is free. I got a little money now. I can pay for it, you know? But everybody treats me good.

``Everybody calls you champ. And they really mean champ, you know what I mean?''

Not everybody knows what Taylor means. His victory over Hopkins, who had made 20 consecutive title defenses, was controversial. Hopkins won by four points (116-112) on one scorecard, but Taylor won by two points (115-113) on the other two.

A couple of independent polls taken of ringside reporters showed roughly 80 percent had Hopkins winning.

Taylor admitted the debatable nature of his victory has taken plenty of gusto away from what should have been the biggest night of his boxing life.

``I'm going to be honest with you, it took away a lot,'' said Taylor, who is training for his rematch with Hopkins on Dec. 3 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. ``And it is still taking away my joy. I don't blame them (reporters), though.

``It was a close fight, and I felt like I did enough to win the fight in those early rounds. In the later rounds, he did come on; yes, he did. But it takes 12 rounds to win a fight. I just gotta do better the next time. And I'm just happy to have another chance to prove myself.''

Taylor has vowed to use all of the negativity surrounding the first fight to his advantage in the rematch. He also wants to stop Hopkins from talking about how lucky Taylor is to be champion.

``I mean, this has made me step up my game,'' the 27-year-old Taylor said. ``That was the dream I had been waiting on all my life.

``Of course, I was nervous. Of course, the lights were extra bright. There was extra media there. There was a lot more people, a lot more at stake. But the second time around ... I'm ready to go in there and do what I do best. That's box, man.''

Taylor is 24-0 with 17 knockouts. Hopkins, 40, is 46-3-1 with 32 knockouts.

HBO pay-per-view will televise the Golden Boy Promotions-DiBella Entertainment card. The main undercard fight will feature a super bantamweight title unification bout between Oscar Larios, the World Boxing Council champion, and Israel Vazquez, the International Boxing Federation champion.

--Hall of Fame: The California Boxing Hall of Fame will hold its annual induction banquet Saturday at Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City.

Being enshrined in the boxer category will be Andy ``Kid'' Heilman, Lonnie Bennett, Lou Filippo, Danny ``Little Red'' Lopez and Yaqui Lopez.

The non-boxer category inductees will include promoters Dan Goossen and Ken Thompson, trainer Joe Goossen, former state athletic commissioner Joe Olmos and referee Marty Denkin.

The event begins at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are $40. For more information, call Don Fraser at [phone].

--Lacy-Tarver: Gary Shaw and Joe DeGuardia spoke twice last week about the possibility of putting together a Jeff Lacy-Antonio Tarver fight that would likely take place at St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa, Fla.

Lacy, the IBF super middleweight champion from St. Petersburg, Fla., would move up in weight to take on Tarver, who is considered the people's light heavyweight champion.

DeGuardia, who promotes Tarver, last week offered to pay Lacy $1 million for the fight. Shaw, who promotes Lacy, refused and was not thrilled about what he considered a low-ball figure.

DeGuardia said he made Shaw a second offer of ``more than $1 million, and it also includes an upside.''

DeGuardia said he is awaiting a return call from Shaw on the latest proposal.

Robert Morales, [phone]

robert.morales(at)sgvn.com