Bernard Hopkins was scheduled to undergo an MRI exam late yesterday to determine the extent of damage to the left shoulder he injured during a bizarre ending to his light heavyweight championship fight with Chad Dawson on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Hopkins lost the fight and his historic title when he was dumped by Dawson in the second round of their pay-per-view bout at the Staples Center. Hopkins injured his shoulder in the fall, but referee Pat Russell declared there was no foul and awarded Dawson a TKO victory.
Dawson claimed Hopkins was faking and wanted out of the bout, but an initial examination at the California Hospital Medical Center determined Hopkins had separated the acromioclavicular joint. Hopkins said surgery remains a possibility.
“When my elbow hit the canvas, it was a shock that went to my shoulder,” Hopkins told The Post by telephone from his home in Philadelphia.
Hopkins, 46, was still seething about losing the title he won from Jean Pascal last May to become the oldest boxer to win a world championship. He said Dawson’s actions should have been ruled a foul and the fight declared a no contest. He said his lawyers yesterday filed a formal appeal with the California State Athletic Commission to have the ruling overturned.
Hopkins also is campaigning to have instant replay used in championship fights to review similar incidents.
“We’re operating in a billion-dollar business, and while every other sport has instant replay, boxing, as controversial at it is, we don’t have it,” Hopkins said. “We’re looking like amateurs compared to every other sport. That’s why we can’t get any respect.
“I guess I have to be the one to fight for instant replay so that the next fighter doesn’t have to pay a price for a bad angle or a bad call.”
Though some states, such as New Jersey and Nevada, use instant replay in boxing in certain situations, it was not available Saturday night despite HBO broadcasting the bout and repeatedly showing replays to its pay-per-view audience.
“Some people say it’s just boxing,” Hopkins said. “But we can’t send that message. I shouldn’t have to pay my history-making title for that.”