Dawson takes Hopkins' light heavyweight title

Chad Dawson took the WBC light heavyweight title from ageing veteran Bernard Hopkins with a controversial technical knockout, ending Hopkins' reign as boxing's oldest world champion. The referee stopped the fight at 2:48 of the second round and awarded Dawson the victory after Hopkins appeared to injure his right shoulder in a fall at Staples Center arena. Hopkins, 46, had jumped on Dawson's back during a clinch and then Dawson used his shoulder to throw Hopkins backwards onto the canvas and he landed awkwardly on the right shoulder. "He jumped on me and I gave him the shoulder," Dawson said. "I don't know if he thought they were going to disqualify me. He is old and flabby. He was looking for a way out of the fight. I didn't break a sweat." Hopkins complained bitterly in the ring after the fight about referee Pat Russell's decision to call it a TKO, which marked the first time in his career he was stopped inside the distance. He was also angered by the controversial exchange with Dawson which took place in one of the neutral corners. "This isn't the UFC or MMA," Hopkins fumed. "It should have been no contest. He threw me down with a foul." "They want me out of boxing, and this is one way to do it. Chad Dawson came in the ring tonight, and he just wanted to rough me up with dirty tactics. He wanted to get me out of there, and that was the only way he could." Hopkins lay on the floor for several minutes while his corner attended to him. Dawson then skipped over and screamed at Hopkins as the crowd at Staples Center booed the bizarre scene. "You are a pussy. Hopkins you are a pussy," Dawson yelled as several people tried to push him away. Hopkins said he told Russell he would continue the fight "with one arm". But Russell waved his arms signalling an end to the fight and ruled it a TKO. "It was not a foul," Russell said. "It's a TKO. He could not continue because of an injury. No foul." As he hit the canvas, Hopkins' head brushed the bottom rope and his shoulder took the force of the fall. Afterwards Dawson said he thought Hopkins was pulling a sham. "He jumped on me and pulled me down," said the 29-year-old Dawson. "I pushed him off with my shoulder. I wanted a good fight. I trained eight weeks for this. He was faking it."He talks about being from Philadelphia and how he is gangster," Dawson added. "He is not gangster. Gangsters don't quit." The two fighters barely had time to feel each other out before the shocking ending, combining to throw just 18 punches. Dawson was the busier of the two in a slow moving first round, and the desultory pace carried over into the second. It remains to be seen if this defeat sends Hopkins through the gates of retirement. Boxing's greyest greybeard did not attend the post-fight news conference because he had to go to the hospital. He became boxing's oldest world champion in May when at 46 he won the WBC light-heavyweight title by unanimous decision over Canada's Jean Pascal, who had taken the crown from previously undefeated Dawson last year. Hopkins ruled the middleweight division for a decade from 1995 to 2005, the last four of those years as an undisputed champion. He was middleweight champ for 10 years and made a record 20 successful title defences in his 23 year boxing career. Hopkins still holds the record for being the oldest boxer to win a world title by beating Pascal at age 46 years, four months and six days. He dethroned George Foreman who won his final title at 45 years, 10 months. Pascal, who watched the fight from ringside, said the ending was bad for boxing. "It is sad for boxing because people pay a lot of money to see a good fight," said Pascal, who hopes to be next in line to fight for Dawson's title. Pascal said he though Dawson should have been called for a foul. "I was surprised by the TKO. Dawson pushed him and that was a foul. I fought once with a dislocated shoulder. He (Hopkins) is 46 so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt."