Hopkins vs. Dawson: Bernard Hopkins' Appeal Should End in Victory

With the boxing community still reeling from the controversial ending to the Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson fight on Saturday night, it appears that there will be some resolution to the situation in the near future. 

The controversy stems from the referee declaring Dawson the winner via TKO after he picked up Hopkins and shoved him to the ground. Hopkins went down clutching his shoulder and was unable to continue, so the fight should have been declared a no-contest since Dawson used a non-boxing move. 

The referee did not see it that way, and awarded the WBC light heavyweight title to Dawson. Hopkins' camp was furious and said that they would do what they had to do in order to get the decision reversed. 

According to a report from Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, Hopkins' team filed an appeal with the California State Athletic Commission to overturn his TKO loss on Tuesday.

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"Hopkins is seeking to have the result changed from a second-round knockout in Dawson's favor to a disqualification victory for him—rather than a no contest as his team had originally suggested Saturday night."

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A disqualification would be the right decision in this case. Dawson used an illegal move to gain an advantage, possibly even hurting Hopkins in the process—which he did—and the referee botched the call for whatever reason. 

Dawson has no business walking around claiming to be a champion after the way that he won that fight. He did not do anything to warrant a TKO, he never landed a punch or anything resembling a punch before he took a coward's way out and purposefully tried to hurt Hopkins. 

The CSAC won't meet until December 13, so we won't have any resolution until then, but when they do convene to discuss this fight, there is no way that they can say Dawson's win is legitimate. 

Hopkins should be given his titles back, and there is no reason Dawson should be given another fight with him any time soon.