At the WBC Convention in Las Vegas, the sanctioning body ordered a rematch of the October 15th Light Heavyweight title fight that saw Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson fight to a no-contest after Hopkins hurt his shoulder in the second round.
Gary Shaw, Dawson’s promoter, was pleased with the WBC’s decision.
“I think justice has been served,” he said. “When Hopkins had a draw with Pascal, the WBC gave him an immediate rematch. And now they have done the same thing for Dawson after the controversy.”
“Let’s get the ball rolling,” Hopkins, who turns 47 next month, told ESPN.com after leaving the convention. “The fans got cheated because of circumstances in the first fight. Now they get an opportunity to get their money’s worth. It’s been a really interesting 48 hours. Things are different now because of that (order). Let’s get it on. The bottom line is a champion defends his belt. That’s what champions do. I believe I am the best at light heavyweight. So my whole thing is champions defend, they don’t get stripped, they don’t throw belts away. I’ve done it for 20 years and I ain’t changing my stripes today.”
“Whatever is best economically without having my belt stripped then I’m fine with that,” he said. “I duck no one. I never did. But if the fans and the people and the networks believe that Chad Dawson don’t draw bees to honey — and this is a business — then that is what it is. I’ve earned this championship belt and I am not ready to leave.”
“My record speaks for itself. I’m normally victorious the second time round,” he said.
“I think that there is no interest in this fight,” he said. “As long as the fighters know that, and they are OK with whatever money there is, then why would I want to stop that fight from happening? I really just want to do fights the public would want to see and where I know going into the fight that it will be entertaining. I just don’t think that these two styles mesh.”
The WBC also ordered Middleweight champion Julio cesar Chavez Jr. to defend against Sergio Martinez
“Chavez has to fight Martinez next unless we make a deal,” said Martinez promoter Lou DiBella said. “But we have leverage. So we’ll talk to (Top Rank’s Bob) Arum and to HBO and see what we can work out.”
