In overturning the results of October 15th’s clash between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson, the WBC stepped in and did the right thing. The bout ended early and controversially when Dawson picked Hopkins up and pushed him to the canvas, causing Hopkins to dislocate his shoulder.
The WBC’s actions in this instance were a textbook example of when and how a boxing sanctioning body should intervene in the aftermath of a disputed fight. After reviewing the evidence, the organization correctly ruled that Dawson had fouled Hopkins, made a decision based clearly and solidly on its rules, and substituted a Technical Draw for a Technical Knockout.
What makes that action so remarkable is how fair and by-the-book it was. Indeed, the WBC’s intervention was surprising precisely because such prompt, just actions are a rarity for sanctioning bodies, and the WBC in particular.
The last time we heard from the WBC, the organization was stripping Timothy Bradley and Sergio Martinez to clear the way for Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. and Erik Morales to win world championships. Those acts were only the most recent instances of the WBC twisting or ignoring its own rules in favor of the organization’s cronies. The WBC’s record begs the question of why they are being so diligent in the case of Bernard Hopkins.
Maybe I am a complete cynic when it comes to boxing, but I don’t believe the WBC does anything simply because it is supposed to. Jose Sulaiman, his clan and his allies hold their own rules in such disdain that their actions go far beyond run of the mill corruption.
Take the Martinez and Bradley strippings as an example. In an ordinary case of favoritism, one might expect that Chavez, Jr. and Morales would be promoted up the fairly subjective (and therefore easily manipulated) rankings and into mandatory challenger’s slots. In theory, such an action would not necessarily involve any rules breaking, it would sidestep controversy, and it would still would have done Chavez and Morales a huge favor. Yet Jose Sulaiman is used to doing whatever he wants vis-a-vis his organization, so why be subtly corrupt when you can be blatantly corrupt?
Giving the title back to Hopkins can’t be about money, because in that case the WBC would have also ordered a mandatory rematch. A second fight would earn the WBC a pair of fat, hefty sanctioning fees instead of just the one. Also, the WBC can’t be “investing” in future sanctioning fees, because that strategy always centers on the younger fighter. Although he is an ageless wonder, Bernard Hopkins is still 46 years old. It is hard to see him soldiering on longer than Chad Dawson, who is only 29.
Ultimately, I think the WBC did Hopkins a favor for much the same reason they did Chavez and Morales a favor: cronyism. Let’s not forget that Hopkins last fight was an mandatory rematch with Jean Pascal ordered by the WBC. In a less controversial bout in December 2010, Pascal held Hopkins to a Majority Draw. The result was disputed and much-debated, but the WBC has ignored such issues before, and I’m convinced that no rematch would have been ordered if it had been Hopkins who retained the titles in a Majority Draw.
The WBC did Hopkins a favor then, and they are doing one for him now. The only difference is that the current favor also happens to be, just coincidentally, mind you, the right thing to do.
