Hopkins cries foul as Dawson claims title

BOXING:BERNARD HOPKINS cried foul after losing his WBC light heavyweight title to Chad Dawson on a controversial technical knockout on Saturday night, while his opponent accused him of being "soft" in a swift and chaotic end to the fight.

Dawson lifted Hopkins off his feet and slammed him to the canvas, hurting the veteran boxer’s left shoulder near the end of the second round at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

With Hopkins in obvious pain, referee Pat Russell signalled the end of the bout with 12 seconds left of the second round, infuriating both fighters.

“He picked me up, both my feet off the ground, and threw me down on my shoulder,” said the 46-year old Hopkins.

“They set me up. Dawson was just in there to rough me up,” added Hopkins, who is 52-6-2 in 60 career bouts. “That was a blatant foul. It should be no contest, not a disqualification.”

The referee defended his decision. “It was not a foul. It was a TKO,” said Russell. “He could not continue because of injury.”

However, George Dodd, executive officer of the California athletic commission, was less forthright, stating that the win “will stand – for now”.

Dawson, who improved to 31-1 with 18 knockouts, claimed to be equally upset by Russell’s decision to end the fight and accused Hopkins of play-acting.

“He was faking,” said Dawson. “I’m sorry for the disappointment for the fans. He ran from me for three years. I know he didn’t want this fight. He kept talking about Philadelphia and being a gangster. He’s no gangster. He’s soft, he’s weak.”

Meanwhile, after spending 26 years in New York’s Sing Sing prison for a murder he did not commit, Dewey Bozella finally got to step into a boxing ring on Saturday night.

And he won.

The 52-year-old won a unanimous decision over 30-year-old Larry Hopkins on the undercard of the Dawson-Hopkins fight – bringing the crowd at the Staples Center to its feet.

“I used to lay in my cell and dream about this happening,” said Bozella said. “It was all worth it. It was my dream come true.”

Bozella became one of the oldest boxers ever to fight in a sanctioned fight. It was a fitting ending for a boxer who said he was fighting with a simple message: “Don’t ever give up.”

In 1983 Bozella was convicted of the killing of a 92 year-old woman. He was formally cleared in October 2009.