In this pay per view attraction billed as, Belive It or Not!, from The Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on Saturday night, what had appeared to be a foul where Chad Dawson would assist Hopkins off his feet, to then cradle his leg and shoulder the defending champion to the canvass after Hopkins got on Chad? back in an attempt to smother the challenger upon missing a right hand, referee Pat Russell would inexplicably rule that there was no foul, culminating in a TKO victory for ?Bad? Chad Dawson, 31-1 (18 KO?s) of New Haven, Connecticut, at 2:48 of the second round, even though no punch was landed during this particular incident that prompted the stoppage. In a second main event pay per view debacle in as many months, there was universal dissatisfaction all around, as not only would the crowd rain a shower of boo?s toward both fighters, but Bernard would be disappointed that the fight wasn?t ruled a no contest, while Dawson, who declared, ?I?m the new champion now,? would also express dissatisfaction, stating, ?I?m not satisfied at all. I didn?t get to show the hard work we put in training camp.?
Even though the entire Dawson team thought that Bernard Hopkins 52-6-2 (32 KO?s) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was faking the injury in an attempt to get out of the bout, a post fight examination conducted by Dr. Sam Thurber, MD, revealed that Hopkins indeed suffered a separation of the acromioclavicular, (A-C) joint, which connects the collar bone and shoulder blade, the result of Bernard landing awkwardly with his body weight on his elbow. I am sure that the Hopkins camp will be filing a protest with the California State Athletic Commission as to the ruling by referee Pat Russell that there was no foul involved, and that the bout should have been determined to be a no contest since it didn?t end as the result of a punch. When questioned by Russell as to whether Bernard could continue, to subsequently be denied the opportunity to resume action by the same referee, Bernard? response after the fight was, ?I said I?m ready to continue. Listen to the tape, don?t take my word for it. I would have fought with one arm. This should?ve been called a no-contest. He picked me up and threw me down with a blatant foul. This isn?t MMA. This isn?t the UFC. They want me out of boxing? This is one of the ways to do it.?
