LOS ANGELES — Using Ripley?s Believe It or Not! to help promote the Oct. 15 pay-per-view show headlined by the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson light heavyweight championship seems like an odd choice by Golden Boy Promotions but perhaps it fits given Hopkins? extraordinary accomplishments.
The 93-year-old franchise that deals in bizarre items and strange — seemingly unbelievable — events is not the usual sponsor for a major prize fight but then Hopkins, who continues to defy Father Time, is far from ?usual.?
The 46-year-old light heavyweight champ probably isn?t as unique as the two-headed calf exhibit that tours the Believe It or Not! museums (known as ?Odditoriums?), but he?s definitely a rarity.
In the time that Ripley?s has been in existence, how many pro boxers as old as Hopkins have been considered the top fighter in their division and one of the pound-for-pound best in the sport apart from the great Archie Moore? Can?t think of any?
Perhaps Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 knockouts), who became the oldest fighter ever to hold a major title when he dethroned RING and WBC champ Jean Pascal in May, is as much of a freak of nature as that two-headed calf.
Maybe, but Dawson doesn?t believe it.
The 29-year-old former titleholder, who dropped a technical decision to Pascal last August, says he has the talent and style to expose Hopkins as a normal human being.
?Pascal didn?t fight his age, he didn?t fight Hopkins like a young man,? Dawson told the media at Monday?s kick-off press conference held at the Staples Center, where the Oct. 15 fight will take place. ?Pascal fought like an amateur. He fought scared. His (punch) output wasn?t enough to throw Bernard off.
?I?ll let my hands go when I fight him because I know Bernard won?t punch when I?m punching. I?ve never seen Bernard go toe to toe for 12 hard rounds. Maybe he did way back in the day, but now he?s a fighter who likes to pick his spots.?
Hopkins found Dawson?s talk of taking the fight to him amusing given that the speedy southpaw has often been criticized for his lack of aggression.
Dawson allowed Pascal to take the lead on the scorecards by boxing cautiously — some would say passively — during their bout. Although Dawson surged in the late rounds and appeared to rock Pascal in the 11th, the Connecticut native was still behind on points when the fight went to the scorecards after he suffered a bad cut from an accidental head butt in that round.
?That wasn?t the real Chad Dawson,? Dawson said of his performance against Pascal. ?I only trained about four weeks for that fight because of outside distractions. I had a lot of personal problems at the time.
?I still could have won the fight. When my corner told me I needed to knock him out to win I took the fight to him and almost had him out in the 11th round before the head butt happened.?
