Taylor had winning scores of 117-111 and 115-113 from two of the judges, and the third had it 117-111 for Spinks.

Spinks and Taylor spent most of the early sizing up each other. Spinks is 2 1/2 inches shorter than the 6-foot Taylor, but he did a good job staying out of the champion's reach.

The two combined to throw 211 punches in the first three rounds and drew scattered boos from the crowd. By contrast, Kelly Pavlik and Edison Miranda combined for 191 punches in the first round of the last undercard bout.

Taylor came alive a bit during the middle rounds, and knocked Spinks off balance with a solid left-handed punch in the seventh — but Taylor (27-0-1) still hasn't knocked anyone down during his nearly two-year reign atop the middleweight division.

The boos returned during the final rounds.

Spinks, the IBF junior middleweight champion, moved up to fight Taylor. Spinks (36-4) was Taylor's second straight opponent from a lower weight class. Taylor beat Kassim Ouma — also from the junior middleweight ranks — in December.

Taylor outpointed Bernard Hopkins in July 2005 to become middleweight champion. He beat Hopkins in a second decision later that year, then escaped with a draw against Winky Wright in Memphis in 2006. Taylor then beat Ouma in another decision.

Taylor was already receiving criticism for fighting two straight smaller fighters, and he was far from overpowering against Spinks. Taylor did appear improved defensively, having kicked the dangerous habit of keeping his hands too low when he fights.

As the 12th round drew to a close, Spinks immediately raised his arms in triumph, and he began dancing around the ring when it was over. That was premature.

"I don't know what to say. It was highway robbery," Spinks said. "I thought I gave a great boxing display. I feel great. I executed my game plan. I think I won."

Two of the judges disagreed, though. Neither fighter landed many memorable punches, but Spinks in particular struggled to connect. He threw 542 punches, but landed only 85.