Besides both being Olympians, Jermain Taylor and Andre Berto also have in common the need to prove themselves to their fans and future opponents alike. Taylor is coming off of his recent draw against Winky Wright, a fight many said Wright was ahead in until spending the last round of the fight inactive. And Berto, who made his first appearance on HBO amid considerable excitement of the welterweight prospect. Both fighters were looking to make a lasting impression during one of the last fights of the year and both fighters were looking for a knockout.
 Fight Action
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MY STORY: JERMAIN TAYLOR
Nice enough outside the ring, but put him inside the ropes and Taylor's got nothing but "Bad Intentions."
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TAYLOR: TRAINING CAMP PHOTOS
Taking time out to meet up with local kids and laugh it up with a Santa hat on, Taylor still gets busy on the heavy bag during this training session...
Training Camp
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BERTO UNVEILED
Andre Berto always dreamed of giving "The Pride Talk'' at the Boys and Girls Clubs around Tampa. If things go right on Dec. 9th, he'll be at the podium soon enough. Many kids dream of winning Olympic gold medals and world championships. They dream of being in fights like the one Berto will be this weekend, when he faces veteran warrior Miguel Figueroa in the semi-main event underneath the Jermain Taylor-Kassim Ouma middleweight title fight on the biggest cable network in boxing. It is a big stage, his first exposure to HBO's glaring lights. One he long dreamed of but he always there was another dream as well. A simpler dream that not every dreamer might have. Read more
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KASSIM OUMA: FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE
Kassim Ouma had no idea what the soldiers wanted when they walked into his classroom 22 years ago, their big guns and loud voices booming. When you are six years old loud noises can be fun and so he thought these men had come to take his class for a ride in the big truck. They had but it was a ride to hell.
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TAYLOR: BRING IT ON!
After doing a trio of fistic tangos with Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright, Jermain Taylor finds himself in the mosh pit Saturday night with Kassim Ouma, boxing's version of a heavy metal, hip hop and rave sensation. Taylor can't wait to dance.
Ouma, one of the highest-volume punchers in the sports history, is guaranteed to supercharge the tempo at the Alltel Arena in Little Rock, and finally give Taylor a chance to showcase a power-packed offense kept under straitjacket by the suffocating defenses of Hopkins and Wright. Read more
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HISTORY: LITTLE BIG MEN
If you are Jermain Taylor you need to respect history and you best beware of the Little Big Man, Kassim Ouma.
Ouma will be a decided underdog in the opinion of most boxing experts when he sticks his 5-foot-8 inch frame between the ropes in Taylor's hometown to challenge the 6-foot-1 undisputed middleweight champion on Dec. 9 but Ouma can take some solace in one thing. Or in several things actually because past history within the division tells him the task he's facing is far from impossible.
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