This ending makes the Mayweather vs. Ortiz ending look pristine.
Whereas everyone clearly agrees what Mayweather did was within the rules, this wasn’t as clear cut. After a slow first round (which is how most Hopkins fights start) the second round was going at the same pace when this happened.
We have a few things going on here, so if you aren’t a big boxing affectionado let me break it down for you.
Hopkins after missing with a straight right lands on Dawson’s back. Dawson at that point is suppose to wait for the ref to break them. Instead he grabs Hopkins’ leg and puts a forearm in his chest.
I don’t believe he intended on him going down the way he did, but he did intend to get him off his back with a non boxing move.
Any type of take or push down is considered a “foul” even if unintended. As soon as he grab the leg it is a foul, there is no question about it.
Once Hopkins hits the ground only he knows if he was faking and milking the injury. Hopkins claims he told the ref he could fight and the ref overruled him and immediately started to call for the TKO.
Once the ref makes that decision it should have been a “no contest”. A TKO can only happen on injury if the injury happens via no contact or because of a punch. Meaning if Hopkins fell on his own and hurt his shoulder then it would be a TKO. If Dawson hits him with a punch and Hopkins twist his ankle and can’t continue it is a TKO.
It was clear the injury was caused by the shove, so it should have been a clear cut No Contest. HBO tried to talk to the ref to get answers, but he was hustled out of the arena like he was a runaway slave. To me they knew they had made a huge mistake and instead of admitting it, they just ran away from it.
In the end it was boxing fans who took the biggest lost. If you spent $60 for this, you should be angry and it will hurt future PPVs.
*UPDATE*