Hopkins vs. Dawson: Bad Chad Will Silence B-Hop Early

Bernard Hopkins will be silent.

I know, that’s nearly impossible to imagine, but it won’t be of his own doing. Chad Dawson will forcefully shut Hopkins' mouth en route to an early knockout when they meet on Saturday, April 28.

In their first bout, Hopkins got off lucky. Dawson was declared victorious by TKO after a B-Hop injury in the second round.

The decision was later changed to a no contest after further review showed that Dawson intentionally pushed his shoulder into him.

This time around, Hopkins won’t escape with his light heavyweight titles.

According to BoxingScene.com’s Keith Idec, Dawson will enter the match with unparalleled confidence.

After all, he knows what really went down in their last meeting.

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I looked into Bernard’s eyes that night and Bernard did not want to be in the ring that night. He may tell you otherwise and Richard Schaefer may say otherwise, but I’m telling you, Bernard didn’t want to be in the ring that night.

Like I said, maybe he undertrained and he underestimated me, and maybe he needed a little more time to get in a little better shape. And maybe that’s what he did by taking the rematch, he wants to get in better shape than he came into that fight. But he didn’t have the fire that night.

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Hopkins doesn’t exactly sound legendary after hearing Dawson’s testimony. Of course, that’s exactly what could be motivating the 47-year-old to step back in the ring. For a man with such a mammoth ego, the fact that his last fight ended in such a sour manner must be eating him alive.

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I guess it’s all about his legacy. If I was him I wouldn’t want to go out on a bad note like that. I wouldn’t want to have everybody say that, ‘You’re ducking this guy.’

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I think it would be wise for Hopkins to duck Dawson. Bad Chad is 18 years younger and hungry to prove that he would’ve walked away victorious this past October. Hopkins still believes that he’s the best fighter in the world, but no one else shares that opinion.

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If you look at the last fight, he said he dislocated his shoulder. We didn’t see any doctor’s notes or anything like that.

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Hopkins should be ecstatic to last longer than he did last time—two rounds.

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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