Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson Fight Latest to Prove Pay-Per-View Boxing Is Rip-Off, Writer Contends

For the second time in 29 days, a tirelessly promoted boxing event ended swiftly and in controversy when Chad Dawson defeated Bernard Hopkins by technical knockout on Saturday night.

The premature end in round two of the light heavyweight bout brought to mind the events of Floyd Mayweather–Victor Ortiz in September, when Mayweather dropped a defenseless Ortiz after Ortiz pinned Mayweather into a corner and head-butted him. Anyone who paid for both fights is now more than $100 poorer and probably saw less than 10 minutes of actual, quality boxing.

That's what irks Philadelphia-based writer Don Steinberg. 

"Both of these grossly hyped fights ended before they even started, each signing off in a confusing blizzard of foul play and insanely bad officiating, without there being a fight at all," Steinberg writes on philly.com. Dawson-Hopkins was "just the latest example of a phenomenon that is starting to challenge identity theft as America's greatest ripoff: pay-per-view boxing matches."

The second round Saturday might have been even more of a disgrace than the fourth round of Mayweather-Ortiz. At least in the first fight, the best fighter could be said to have won. By contrast, there wasn't even a chance to determine who was the better fighter Saturday.

After a dull first round, Hopkins spent the early part of the second round retreating into the ropes and then leaning on Dawson. Hopkins has successfully employed this strategy to score knockouts in the past, but Dawson grew tired of the monotony. With 20 seconds left in the round, he grabbed Hopkins by both legs and flipped him into the ropes, as you can see a little less than 3 minutes into this video.

Hopkins fell hard on his left shoulder and claimed his shoulder was separated. The bout probably should have been a no-contest, but referee Pat Russell declared it a TKO for Dawson.

"I do not have a foul, OK?" Russell could be heard saying on the HBO broadcast. "I'm not calling that a foul."

Steinberg was amused by that ruling.

"Calling the takedown a legal boxing move was like calling an intentional walk a legal football move," Steinberg wrote.

It's enough to make fight fans more than hesitant to click "buy" next time their cable provider hypes a pay-per-view bout. Fool us once, shame on you. Fool us twice, and next time we'll just watch the Oregon-Arizona State game.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

If you think that body slam hurt, Hopkins, try paying $50 to watch you roll around on the mat. Now that's painful.

Photo/AP

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"He was unbelievable. Every moment we needed him, he came through."
— Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre on teammate Nelson Cruz, who drove in 13 runs in the ALCS against the Tigers, a postseason record. 

TWEET OF THE DAY

Ba-zing!

VIDEO OF THE DAY

… and we've just discovered a new activity for slow days at the office.