Middleweight World Championship Series
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The Middleweight World Championship Series was a boxing round-robin tournament staged by Don King Productions. The goal of the series was to produce a unified Middleweight boxing champion. The victor took the WBC, WBA, IBF and vacant Ring Magazine 160-pound belts home, and became the first undisputed middleweight king since Marvellous Marvin Hagler held the distinction from 1979 until 1987. The victor was also awarded a specially commissioned "Sugar" Ray Robinson trophy.
The contenders in the tournament were William Joppy (WBA champion), Keith Holmes (WBC champion), Bernard Hopkins (IBF champion), and Félix Trinidad. The semifinals pitted Trinidad against Joppy and Hopkins against Holmes.[1] Trinidad was regarded as the favourite to win the tournament.[2]
On April 14, 2001, in Madison Square Garden, New York, Hopkins won a unanimous decision over Keith Holmes to unify the WBC and IBF titles. The judges scorecards read 118-109, 117-110 and 119-108 all in favor of Hopkins.[3]
