The WBC (World Boxing Council) has decided that Chad Dawson’s controversial second-round TKO win over Light Heavyweight Champion Bernard Hopkins on Oct. 15 will be ruled a technical draw. Dawson lifted Hopkins off of him during the bout and sent the champion crashing to the canvas where he suffered a separated shoulder. Hopkins didn’t want to continue and referee Pat Russell called it a TKO since he didn’t rule Dawson’s maneuver to be a foul.

Most fans figured the WBC would eventually rule a no contest or something similar and it didn’t take them long to do so. Therefore, Hopkins is still the WBC champion. However, the WBC doesn’t have the power to overrule the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) and they may not decide to change the outcome of the match. If they don’t then the result will officially be ruled a second-round TKO for Dawson. The commission probably won’t make a ruling until December though.

This may seem a little strange, but the WBC doesn’t have the power to overrule the commission. They can only rule within their own organization and who holds the belt. If the 29-year-old Dawson is interested in becoming the WBC titleholder he’s going to have to face the 46-year-old Hopkins again. It’s assumed that the WBC will give him this opportunity once Hopkins shoulder has healed.

Hopkins was happy with the decision of course and said justice was done by the WBC. But Gary Shaw, whom promotes Dawson, said he’s pretty disappointed in the move, but is confident that the boxing organization will place Dawson back in his number one ranking, meaning Hopkins will have to fight him since he’s the mandatory challenger.

Shaw said Hopkins fouled Dawson first by draping himself over his boxer’s back and Dawson simply tried to get his opponent off of him. He said he accepts the ruling, but still doesn’t agree with it. Hopkins has filed a protest with the CSAC and wants it to change the result to a disqualification win for himself. However, if the commission does change the official result it’s more likely they’ll rule it a no decision or a technical draw.

WBC boss Jose Sulaiman came to his decision after watching a videotape of the bout and felt that Dawson intentionally lifted Hopkins off of him, but didn’t meant to cause any damage. He also took into consideration the medical report on Hopkins to make sure he wasn’t faking an injury. In addition, when other unintentional fouls are committed, such as head butts, the fight is ruled a technical draw if it has to be stopped in the first four rounds. If the fight enters the fifth round and is stopped due to injuries sustained by accidental fouls then it goes to the scorecards.

While many fans feel Hopkins got what he deserved because they perceive him as a dirty fighter, the WBC ruling was still the right one to make. Dawson will now have the opportunity to prove he can beat him with boxing skills alone the next time they meet.

Seeing Bernard Hopkins lose his WBC Light Heavyweight Title to Chad Dawson at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Oct. 15 wasn’t really a surprise at all. A controversial fight wasn’t really too hard to predict. But the fact it was all over before the second round had finished was a bit of a shock.

Controversy and boxing go hand in hand and have done so for decades now. It seems every time there’s a pay-per-view broadcast that something new and different seems to happen that gives the sport a bad name. And as usual, those who shelled out their hard-earned cash for the fights feel ripped off.

Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs) was attempting to defend his title at the ripe old age of 46 against 29-year old Dawson (31-1, 18 KOs). Most experts figured it might be a decent fight, but wasn’t worth pay-per-view status. The first round was pretty uneventful and the second was too until the final minute was winding down.

Hopkins moved in and seemed to lean on the back of Dawson who reacted by lifting up his body and throwing Hopkins off of him. It wasn’t an overly aggressive move and it’s something that’s been seen many times before in a boxing ring.

However, instead of getting up to continue Hopkins writhed on the ring in apparent pain at the ropes. He was pointing to his shoulder and assumed he had separated it. The referee eventually called the fight a TKO win for Dawson since he didn’t call his tackle a foul.

While it may have not been an illegal or dirty move, most fans thought the fight would have been called a no-contest since Hopkins wasn’t sent to the canvas by a punch. But that wasn’t the case. Dawson was awarded the championship belt via a second-round TKO.

After the fight, Hopkins said he told referee Pat Russell he would continue, but Russell didn’t see it that way. Henderson said Hopkins didn’t get up from the deck and said he couldn’t continue. Dawson said Hopkins was faking the injury and didn’t want to fight. He can’t be blamed for feeling that way since Hopkins has been known to embellish incidents in the past.

But doctors later revealed that Hopkins had suffered a significant injury. Dawson said he has no interest in giving Hopkins a rematch h and wants to meet Jean Pascal next. Pascal stopped Dawson in 2010 after Dawson suffered a cut from an clash of heads and the fight went to the judges’ scorecards with Pascal winning a unanimous decision.

It’s hard to believe in this day and age though that Hopkins, being the champion, wouldn’t have included a rematch clause in the contract with Dawson. Pascal said he’ll fight Dawson as soon as possible, but with all of the controversy surrounding the Hopkins-Dawson fight it’s possible that the referee will be overruled and a rematch could be on the books in the near future.

Hopkins should have been given the option of continuing the fight if he wanted, even though he would have basically been a one-armed fighter, but that’s his choice. If it turns out he wasn’t asked if he wanted to continue, we might see a rematch ordered. Until then, it’s just another controversy boxing can do without.

The WBC Light Heavyweight Championship showdown between holder Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson on Oct. 15 is being billed as “Believe It or Not.” It’s not as catchy as the Thrilla in Manila, but it’ll do I suppose. On second thought, it’s an ideal name for the event because believe it or not you have to shell out about $55 to watch it on HBO Pay-Per View.

Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KOs) has never been a pay-per-view fighter in his career, so why fans have to pay to watch him put them to sleep at the age of 46 is a mystery. Dawson (30-1, 17 KOs) isn’t a pay-per-view star either and when you match the two of them up, it’s a bit of an insult to the fans. In fact, with the cheapest ticket for the card being $25, fans might as well go down to the Staples Center in LA and buy a ticket, leaving enough left over for a couple of drinks and a hot dog.

There’s no doubt that Hopkins has had a fine career and winning a title at the age of 46 may be a record that’s never broken. But it’s also a fact that he’s one of the most boring fighters on the planet. Dawson is a bit more exciting, but he’s no Muhammad Ali either.

Hopkins struggled with an overrated Jean Pascal in his last two controversial fights and eked out a close unanimous decision win and a draw. Dawson also struggled with Pascal when they met in august of 2010 and the fight was stopped in the 11^th round due to an accidental head butt. Dawson wasn’t happy with the technical decision since he was starting to get to Pascal at the time.

Dawson started slowly in that fight and it cost him in the end when the scorecards were read. The lesson to be learned from that fight is that he can’t sit back and take it easy against Hopkins. When Hopkins fights, he rarely throws punches unless he has to keep his opponent off of him. This is why Dawson needs to press the action as stay as active as possible.

Hopkins isn’t used to having to fight to earn his decisions as he prefers to lull his opponents to sleep as well as the fans. The 29-year-old Dawson’s southpaw style could give Hopkins problems and he has the age, size, and height advantages. He’s got excellent speed, but lacks one-punch KO power. But so does Pascal and he dropped Hopkins a few times.

Dawson has all of the tools to be an excellent boxer, but he doesn’t seem to have the killer instinct. He recently dropped Emanuel Steward as his trainer and replaced him with former trainer John Scully. Dawson is a fine boxer/puncher while Hopkins fights like he just wants to survive so he can line up another payday.

Granted, Hopkins has thrown more punches in has past few fights, but after decision losses to Jermain Taylor (twice) and Joe Calzaghe, he had no choice. Hopkins assumes close decisions should go his way because of his age and record, but he quickly found out he’s not going to win anything without letting his hands go.

If both boxers come to throw punches, Dawson shouldn’t have a problem winning the fight. If he allows Hopkins to get away with just throwing a dozen a round then it’s going to be another boring and controversial fight, which is typical of a Hopkins bout.