Ashley Theophane
The world’s two top light-heavyweights went at it in Los Angeles at the weekend. The ever young, 46 year old, Bernard ‘The Executioner’ Hopkins defended his world title against ‘Bad’ Chad Dawson.
A few years ago, Chad Dawson looked like he could be a huge future star of boxing but struggled to beat Glen Johnson and a surprise points loss to Jean Pascal, took the shine off him.
Ring Legends, Roy Jones Jnr. and James Toney both thought Bernard only wanted Chad Dawson as he has looked mentally weak in some of his recent fights. Bernard is a master of pre-fight ‘mind games’, as demonstrated in his recent lopsided points win against Jean Pascal. Jean was totally intimidated and showed far too much respect, as he had been led to believe that he was fighting a living legend.
Chad Dawson was not in the least bit intimidated by Bernard. He showed admirable focus and maturity going into their bout. He pushed Hopkins backwards for two rounds, until the pair got tangled up when Hopkins missed with a strange right hand and lent over Dawson before being thrown to the ground. Hopkins landed on his left elbow and told the referee he could not continue as his shoulder had come out of place. Chad thought Hopkins was looking for a way out. The referee did not rule it a foul, so it currently stands as a TKO win to Dawson.
The HBO commentary team, Emmanuel Steward and Max Kellerman, thought that it should have been ruled a ‘no contest’. I agree with them, as no punch was landed. It was an accidental situation, which led to Hopkins being unable to fight. There will be more to come as the outrage grows.
