America at Large: To some, the events of last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas represented a symbolic changing of the guard, but for Jermain Taylor's promoter it was surely more than that.

When the last judge's scorecard was read and it was announced that Taylor had become the first man in a dozen years to defeat Bernard Hopkins, the new middleweight champion's ecstatic reaction paled in comparison to that of the man standing beside him: promoter Lou DiBella.

To say that Hopkins and DiBella have long detested one another is an understatement. We were seated with the latter an awards dinner when the former flew a sortie past our table.

"Hey, Lou," sneered the undisputed middleweight champion of the world, who then made a most intimate offer to DiBella. The invitation had barely registered with the startled company, which included my wife, when DiBella shot back with his rejoinder.

"You mean like you used to do in prison, Bernard?" DiBella asked sweetly.

Five years ago, when DiBella embarked upon a personal metamorphosis in which he was transformed from one of the most powerful television executives in the boxing business to one of the least powerful promoters in the sport, it was widely understood that Bernard Hopkins would be the centrepiece of his nascent stable. As executive vice-president at HBO, DiBella had nurtured the career of the then-35-year-old IBF middleweight champion.

Although Hopkins hadn't lost a fight since 1993, he didn't have a television deal and often found himself fighting for five-figure purses. By the time DiBella left HBO to form his own company, Hopkins had become a staple of the network, and in September of 2001, when Hopkins knocked out Felix Trinidad at Madison Square Garden to become the undisputed middleweight champ, the two men embraced in the ring. It was DiBella who cried unabashed tears of joy.

When he formed DiBella Entertainment, the promoter had envisioned reforming what he described as "a pig business". But although he is a Harvard-educated lawyer, DiBella had never formalised his relationship with Hopkins. The two had operated on a handshake deal, and once he reached the pinnacle of his profession Hopkins decided his "advisor" was excess baggage and unceremoniously dumped him.

The boxer, who had obtained his advanced degree from Pennsylvania's Graterford Penitentiary, then compounded matters. In an apparent effort to justify his conduct, he accused DiBella of having engineered a $50,000 kickback for placing him on an HBO show when DiBella was still a network employee.

"It was a despicable attempt to hit me where it hurt the most by attacking my honour," said DiBella. "Bernard knew I valued my integrity above everything else, so he deliberately tried to attack me there."

DiBella sued for libel and won a $610,000 judgment. He is still waiting for his money, but the award has now grown to over $750,000 and the clock is still ticking.

Although Taylor had mowed down 24 opponents, it was assumed by most experts that he was at least a year away from being ready to challenge the formidable Hopkins, but the lure of a million-dollar payday had pushed him into the ring with his promoter's bitter adversary.

The simmering feud between Hopkins and DiBella bubbled beneath the surface as last Saturday's fight approached.

"You'd have thought he was fighting me instead of Jermain," said DiBella. "He told the press that his motivation for winning was that it would put my company out of business. And before the fight he was an asshole all week. At the press conference he said he hoped I would commit suicide - and he said this knowing from our time together that my brother had committed suicide."

Although Taylor staggered Hopkins early and dominated much of the early going, from the fight's midpoint the challenger was bleeding from a scalp wound, and Hopkins' late charge put the issue in some doubt.

"Jermain told me afterward he'd never seen a guy who knew so many dirty tricks," said DiBella. "Head-butts, hitting on the thighs, elbows. He wasn't complaining, understand: it was more like an acknowledgement of a crafty old master who's learned how to get away with all that stuff."

The announcement of the verdict was tinged with suspense. One judge scored it 116-112 for Hopkins, but was outweighed by the other two, who favoured Taylor by 115-113 margins.

Whether a Hopkins win would have, as the boxer had predicted, put DiBella out of business is questionable, but, admitted the promoter when we spoke with him two days ago, "I know now I'll have no difficulty meeting my payroll for the rest of the year, and a week ago it wasn't at all clear I'd be able to do even that."

Hopkins predictably claimed he thought he had won, and bitterly protested, but as the boxers and their handlers milled about the ring in the aftermath, he walked past DiBella and extended his left glove.

"I sort of tapped his glove as a gesture of respect, and Bernard said something to me," recalled DiBella. "It was so noisy that I couldn't hear what he said, but I assume it was conciliatory."

"It's over," said DiBella. "I won't say I feel vindicated, but it's as if all the hate has been sucked out of my lungs. I'm still waiting for my money, and he can't stop himself from being rancorous, but I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from me. I don't think Bernard and I will be having dinner together any time soon, but it's just not healthy to walk around with that much bile in your gut."