Chad Dawson vs Bernard Hopkins as Bad as Advertised
46-year-old light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (left) lost his title at Staples Center Saturday night after being shoulder-tossed to the ground by his opponent Chad Dawson (right) in the 2nd round. Hopkins landed at the edge of the mat on his left elbow and immediately indicated his shoulder had been injured.
The ref’s failure to call a foul means the fight was deemed a TKO by the California State Athletic Commission, an injustice that will hopefully be corrected if there is any fairness left in the sport. The real losers were the vocally enraged live crowd and fans that coughed up $50-60 for what is easily one of the worst Pay Per View cards in recent memory.
“I gave him a shoulder. This is boxing,” Dawson insisted afterward. “I need room, he was pushing me down to the ground.”
The New Haven native accused his foe of exaggerating his injury to avoid continuing the fight. The incident did prompt HBO’s Max Kellerman to reference Hopkins’ performance against Welsh legend Joe Calzaghe in 2008, where he was accused of acting to buy time.
“Yeah he was faking. Come on man, you know he was faking,” Dawson said. “A gangsta would have got up and fought like a man.”
Watching on Pay Per View we thought Hopkins’ reaction appeared genuine, though it’s impossible to know whether he could have fought on. BHop told Kellerman that he was perfect willing to soldier on one-handed but the ref had refused to allow it. Hopkins justifiably argued for a no contest, calling the tackle a “blatant foul.”
“They want me out of boxing. This is one of the ways to do it,” Hopkins said. “This ain’t the UFC, this ain’t the MMA. He picked me up and threw me down. He tackled me to the ground. Football come on tomorrow.”
Dawson was insistent that he would have won the fight and challenged what he saw as his opponent’s lack of heart. Having waited for Hopkins for three years, Chad dismissed the notion of a rematch out of hand by pointing to his foe’s age. Instead, Dawson said he wants a chance to avenge his loss to Canadian former champion Jean Pascal.
“Bernard can’t touch me man. I was getting closer and closer and he knew that,” Chad said. “This shows why he didn’t want to fight me right now. You see it. That’s why he didn’t want to fight me.”
Almost anyone with a basic understanding of the rules of boxing agrees the verdict was ridiculous. Hopkins will hopefully re-gain his championship but the aftertaste of this night will likely linger for some time. Sadly, Bernard had just begun to draw some mainstream interest despite the foolish decision by HBO and his handlers to have him fight on the West Coast in a PPV fight that should have been broadcast for free.
But instead of continuing BHop’s fantastic story or crowning a new champion we have this mess. That’s boxing. It’s not the end of the world, but it won’t help either fighter’s questionable marketability. Nor should it. Just as predicted, the fight was a dog and no one should waste any more time or money putting these two in the ring again. The sooner we can move on and pretend it never happened the better.