By James Slater: A day or so ago, the result of the October fight between Ring Magazine and World Boxing Council (WBC) light-heavyweight champ Bernard Hopkins and challenger Chad Dawson, originally ruled a 2nd-round TKO win for Dawson and then demoted to a technical draw, was changed again: this time to a No-Contest.
Fans are well aware of what happened in the ring that night, when Dawson “flipped” Hopkins off him as he lunged in, resulting in B-Hop hitting the mat hard and injuring his shoulder. Anyway, the WBC, currently holding its annual convention, this year in Las Vegas, has just ordered a rematch between the two 175-pounders. But as Dan Rafael wrote on his Twitter page, just because the organisation has ordered the rematch, it doesn’t mean it will actually come to pass.
Will we see a Hopkins-Dawson II? Do fans really want to see it?
Recently, Hopkins said he had “zero interest” in giving Dawson a rematch. But minutes ago via his own Twitter page, Hopkins wrote how “WBC did the rite thing hopefully me n chad give yall another fight!!”
So, has Hopkins had a change of heart? Does he want to keep his WBC strap and is he willing to follow the organisation’s orders so as to keep hold of it? Hopkins, despite his age, has more options than does “Bad” Chad – a fighter who has neither the legendary status Hopkins enjoys nor the fan base “The Executioner” does. Hopkins may not be the most exciting fighter out there, but millions of fans tune in when he fights. With potential fights against the likes of Lucian Bute and Nathan Cleverly out there for him, Hopkins doesn’t have to go ahead with that rematch with Dawson.
In the interest of fairness and of finding out which man is the superior fighter, Hopkins and Dawson should meet again. But in terms of providing an exciting, intriguing match-up, Hopkins should face someone else – be it Bute or another top guy at 168 or 175.
It will be Hopkins’ call: does he want to keep Don Jose happy and sweet or doesn’t he?