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Light heavyweight world champion Bernard Hopkins said on Twitter today that a rematch with Chad Dawson is set for April 28 in Atlantic City. This may or may not have any legs to it, but that's what Hopkins is saying:
Attn: fanz & of course HATERZ April 28 AC im getting my revenge/victory on
@OfficialBadChad 4 that BS
A fan asked Hopkins if the fight would be on regular HBO, and Hopkins responded that it would be. So the good news is no pay-per-view this time. At least this makes the fight tolerable.
Update: Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com reports that the fight is indeed a go. Gary Shaw says that the fight is official.
Though there is very little fan interest in this fight, the fact is that it has to be made. The WBC, which owns the belt Hopkins carries around, has mandated it after their controversial, two-round no-contest from October 15.
Recently, Dawson's promoter Gary Shaw said that he expected Hopkins to duck the rematch:
"I don’t think Hopkins wanted to fight Chad then, and I don’t believe Hopkins wants to fight him now. I always thought Chad was superior and that was the one guy Hopkins didn’t want to face."
Steve Kim reported about a week ago that negotiations were ongoing for the fight, but that Shaw and Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer were miles apart on the split. Schaefer was pushing 85-15, while Shaw was asking for 60-40 in Hopkins' favor. The standard WBC practice in a situation like this is 70-30 for the defending champ.
It looks pretty much a given that this fight is going to happen, so no use in crying over spilt milk, I suppose. Bernard's 47 years old and every fight is one more closer to the end. Given the style matchup with Dawson, maybe this is it. But we've figured on that before, too.