Jones Fallout: Jockeying For Hopkins Begins; Dawson Wants B-Hop

“BERNARD HOPKINS IS A FUGITIVE AT LARGE!”

NEW HAVEN, CONN. (December 2, 2009) – Like the proverbial cat on the verge of using up its nine lives, Bernard Hopkins is running out of excuses — excuses for not fighting undefeated two-time light heavyweight champion CHAD DAWSON.

“He’s on the run like the one-armed man in “The Fugitive.”  Eventually the law catches up with him,” said Dawson.  “Well I’m the sheriff of the light heavyweight division and I’m putting a stop to Hopkins’ con.  First, he said he’d fight the winner of my fight with Glen Johnson.  I won and Hopkins hid.  Second, he said he’d fight the winner of my rematch with Johnson.  I won and this time Hopkins chose to fight some guy named Enrique Ornelas, who has lost to almost every decent middleweight he’s ever fought.  And on top of that, the fight isn't worthy of being broadcast on HBO, Showtime or even ESPN 2!  Desperate people do desperate things.  Hopkins knows that if he fights me he’s looking at a loss of Calzaghe proportions.

“Bernard, it’s time for you to pack it in and get out of my division.  If you’re not willing to fight the best light heavyweight, move along and quit wasting everyone’s time.  Your deep well of excuses, along with your credibility has dried up.  You weighed 175 pounds for tonight’s fight, Roy Jones was knocked out in 122 seconds today and HBO has a March date available.  No more excuses.  Get onboard with HBO’s original plan for us to fight each other, or, as you told ESPN.com this morning,  go run “a marathon to super-greatness” away from me.”