By Keith Idec
Philadelphia seems like a better fit for Bernard Hopkins’ fight against Chad Dawson than Los Angeles.
So do Newark, N.J., where his promoters first tried to put Saturday’s card, and Atlantic City, a short drive from Philadelphia. Hopkins understands, though, that fighting in his hometown might not be possible again before he retires, even if the 46-year-old light heavyweight champion wants it to happen.
“I mean, it wouldn’t be a problem for me,” Hopkins said. “I just don’t think that economically they can pull it off [in Philadelphia] the way Vegas or L.A., maybe New York, [or] even with the Canadian market now, who’ve embraced Bernard Hopkins. Who knows?
“But I just think that I fought [in Philadelphia] a couple of times and I did the Enrique [Ornelas] fight, which I consider one of my last fights in Philadelphia, if not the last. So if I do [fight in Philadelphia again], great. If I don’t, Philly knows I gave them a couple of world championship fights. And they love me for it and they still support me.”
Hopkins fought twice in Philadelphia since his breakthrough performance against Felix Trinidad 10 years ago at Madison Square Garden. Both of those fights were mismatches, though.
The former middleweight champion dominated Ornelas over 12 rounds in their December 2009 light heavyweight fight at Temple University’s Liacouras Center. He also overwhelmed petrified Frenchman Morrade Hakkar for seven rounds before Hakkar declined to continue in a mandatory middleweight title fight in March 2003 at The Spectrum.
Neither of those fights drew large crowds, though Hopkins’ opponents obviously affected ticket sales for those two cards.
The card headlined by Hopkins and Dawson hasn’t sold particularly well at Staples Center, either, but organizers of the event expect ticket sales to pick up as the week progresses. A crowd of 12,828 watched Hopkins out-point England’s Howard Eastman the last time Hopkins headlined a card at Staples Center, in February 2005.
Golden Boy Promotions brought this show to Staples Center after failed negotiations to bring it to Prudential Center in Newark, essentially equidistant between Philadelphia and Dawson’s native New Haven, Conn.
The Prudential Center deal fell apart because Golden Boy Promotions, in which Hopkins is a partner, and promoter Gary Shaw, who represents Dawson, didn’t want to make Main Events a promotional partner in the event. That was a deal-breaker because Devils Arena Entertainment, which operates Prudential Center, has forged a partnership with Totowa, N.J.-based Main Events to produce boxing shows at the home of the NHL’s Devils.
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, NJ., and BoxingScene.com.
