Billy’s Boxing Blog

By William Trillo

Promoter Gary Shaw is out of the country but when the WBC made their ruling in regard to the Dawson vs. Hopkins debacle we felt it was important to get his immediate thouhts so we gave Mr. Shaw a call and he was quick to oblige our request.

When asked about the ruling that the fight would be declared a Technical Draw and Hopkins would keep his WBC Belt Shaw said, “Obviously this is their (the WBC’s) ruling and I honestly can’t do anything about it, I personally don’t think the board did right. The whole controversy is that Hopkins fouled first, he was all over Chad’s back and neck and if Chad’s neck got hurt he would have been told to continue. So the question is, did Hopkins foul Chad first? In my estimation he did!”

Questioning the validity of the Hopkins injury Shaw stated, “No one has seen the MRI or an X-Ray to prove there is a real injury there. Hopkins pulled this against Antwon Echols in Las Vegas. Dr. Goodman told him if he did not continue it would be a TKO and he (Hopkins) fought the rest of the fight. I believe he tried to get out of that fight just as he did try to get out of the fight with Chad”, said Shaw.

After the fight when Chad thought he was the rightful winner all talk switched to a rematch with Jean Pascal but Shaw wouldn’t confirm if those plans will stay in effect, “In regard to a fight with Pascal we are now just going to have to see what happens.”

In closing Shaw gave his thoughts on the officiating this past Saturday night in Los Angeles by remarking, “I also want to say that I thought Pat Russell did a great job. If the California Commission overrules their own referee, they will lose the confidence of all their officials. Pat Russell did a fine job, and the Commission needs to stand behind Pat, as Nevada has shown the confidence of their officials.”

For the time being it is clear the lu$tre of a Dawson vs. Pascal rematch is greatly diminished and depending the California Commission’s decision due in December, the fight could conceivably fall apart.

It is also clear that whether it’s instant replay or simply adhering to the referees ruling, boxing as a whole has to come up has to come up with some firm answers so this kind of dilemma won’t rear it’s ugly head over and over again.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 3:44 am and is filed under Boxing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.