Challenger “Bad” Chad” Dawson defeated defending WBC and Ring Magazine light heavyweight champion Bernard “The Executioner” Dawson in Saturday night’s main event on the “Believe It Or Not!: Hopkins vs. Dawson” Pay-Per-View last night on HBO. Of course, the ending had plenty of people not believing what they just saw, as another boxing event ended in controversial fashion. Here’s a recap of the Hopkins vs. Dawson results, as well as the rest of the action from last night’s PPV, and some quick-hitting results from elsewhere around the boxing map with a weekend wrap-up.
The Hopkins vs. Dawson title fight ended in controversy because Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs) was unable to continue due to a left shoulder injury suffered in the second round when he landed on the canvas. Referee Pat Russell ruled that there was no foul, awarding a TKO win to Dawson (31-1, 18 KOs), who captured the WBC and Ring Magazine championships.
Not exactly a career-defining win for Dawson, and not exactly a good performance for Hopkins. The ending was even worse than the Mayweather-Ortiz fight, because there was no punch which closed the show officially, and the incident took place in just the 2nd round. Boxing fans in the arena and watching at home on TV certainly did not appreciate the quick, odd ending to the bout.
Having Ripley’s and the “Believe it or not” tag attached to the event at least made it ironically suitable. …. Would the Bernard Hopkins wax figure also have injured his shoulder upon impact on the canvas?
After the fight, a status on Hopkins and his injury was released by Golden Boy, who wanted to legitimize that it was a real injury:
Bernard Hopkins has been released from the California Hospital Medical Center in Los Angeles after being x-rayed and examined by Dr. Sam Thurber, MD who diagnosed Hopkins with a separation of the acromioclavicular (A-C) joint which connects the collar bone and shoulder blade.
Of course, other people had different thoughts on the ending. James Toney, for example, said Hopkins made himself a way out. On Twitter, boxer Mikael Zewski said “Yesterday’s decision as nothing to do with Hopkins injury its all about…. Was Dawson wrestling move legit?….I think hopkins did the old trick of putting his weight on dawson to cut his legs and dawson reacted by throwing him to the canvas…. ??”
The most common theme from fans was simply, did I really just spend 50 bucks for that? You can listen to what the guys at Rope A Dope Radio had to say in their post-fight coverage of Hopkins vs. Dawson here.
On the rest of the PPV….
Mexican lightweight Antonio “Tony” DeMarco(26-2-1, 12 KOs) became a world champion in his second chance at a major title, defeating Jorge Linares (31-2) by 11th round technical knockout to capture the vacant WBC title. Trailing by scores of 99-91 and 98-92 (twice) going into the 11th round, DeMarco belted a bloodied Linares around the ring until referee Raul Caiz, Sr. halted the action at 2:23 for a dramatic comeback win by Demarco.
Unbeaten junior welterweight Danny “Swift” Garciawon a 12-round split decision versus former world champion Kendall “Rated R” Holt (27-5, 15 KOs) for the vacant NABO title in an eliminator for the WBC #1 and IBF #2 positions.
Brooklyn welterweight Paulie “Magic Man”Malignaggi (30-4, 6 KOs) boxed his way to a 10-round unanimous decision win against Orlando Lora (28-2-1, 19 KOs).
Junior middleweight Freddy “The Rail” Hernandez(30-2, 20 KOs) dropped former world champion Luis Colazzo (31-5, 16 KOs) on the eighth round en route to a hard-earned, impressive victory by 10-round unanimous decision (96-93 all three judges).
Dewey Bozella made his professional debut at the age of 52 and won a unanimous decision in the feel good story of the evening. After serving 26 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, Bozella finally got to achieve his goal of fighting professionally.
Full Results:
Chad Dawson (31-1, 18 KOs), New Haven, CT WTKO2 (2:48) Bernard Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs), Philadelphia, PA
(Dawson wins WBC & Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight Title)
Antonio Demarco (26-2-1, 19 KOs), Los Mochis, Mexico WTKO11 (2:32) Jorge Linares (31-2, 20 KOs), Barinas, Venezuela
(DeMarco wins WBC Lightweight Title)
Danny Garcia (22-0, 14 KOs), Philadelphia, PA WDEC12 (117-111, 117-111, 113-115) Kendall Holt (27-5, 15 KOs), Paterson, NJ
(Garcia won NABO Junior Welterweight Title, WBC #1 & IBF #2 Positions Eliminator)
WELTERWEIGHTS
Pauli Malignaggi (30-4, 6 KOs), Brooklyn, NY WDEC10 (100-90, 99-91, 98-92) Orlando Lora (28-2-1, 19 KOs), Culiacan, Mexico
Nick Casal (25-4-1, 17 KOs), Buffalo, NY WTKO3 (2:51) Michael Anderson (11-1-1, 9 KOs), Newark, NJ
JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Freddy Hernandez (30-2, 20 KOs), Mexico City, Mexico WDEC10 (96-93 X3) Luis Collazo (31-5, 16 KOs), Brooklyn, NY
CRUISERWEIGHTS
Dewey Bozella (1-0, 0 KOs), Beacon, NY WDEC4 (39-36, 39-36, 38-37) Larry Hopkins (0-4), Houston, TX
JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHTS
Manuel Avila (6-0, 2 KOs), Fairfield, CA WDEC4 (39-35, 39-36, 37-38) David Reyes (2-1, 0 KOs), East Los Angeles, CA
MIDDLEWEIGHTS
DonYil Livingston (6-0, 3 KOs), Palmdale, CA WDEC4 (59-55, 58-56, 58-56) Kurtis Colvon (6-1, 5 KOs), Austin, TX
More Boxing Results from the weekend….
In Liverpool, England, Nathan Cleverly defend his light heavyweight title against domestic rival Tony Bellew. He won a twelve round majority decision over Bellew, who made a better showing of himself than many people expected. The official scorecards read 114-114, 116-113, 117-112, and most had Cleverly pulling out it out late and winning the last two rounds to seal the deal. A tough loss to swallow for the trash-talking Bellew, and now Cleverly gets to move on to bigger and better things. He called out Beibut Shumenov and the winner of the Hopkins-Dawson match.
Also on the card, James DeGale got back to his winning ways, winning a majority decision over Piotr Wilczewski with scores of 114-114, 115-113, 115-113.
