WBC lets Bernard Hopkins keep belt with technical draw ruling

The World Boxing Council on Thursday ruled Chad Dawson did not defeat light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins by technical knockout, as officials working the Saturday fight at Staples Center ruled.

Instead, the WBC ruled the outcome was a technical draw, allowing Hopkins, 46, to keep his belt.

"I'm obviously thrilled by that decision," Hopkins' promoter, Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, said. "It's the right decision. Bernard Hopkins did not lose that fight."

Dawson was deemed the winner after Hopkins fell to the canvas and separated his left shoulder in the second round of their title fight. With Hopkins unable to continue, referee Pat Russell named Dawson the winner.

Schaefer has already appealed the outcome to the California State Athletic Commission, and commission executive officer George Dodd said a hearing on the matter is scheduled Dec. 13 in Los Angeles.

Hopkins-Dawson fared poorly at the Staples box office and pitifully on HBO pay-per-view.

And after Dawson promoter Gary Shaw said his fighter had no interest in giving Hopkins a rematch, Schaefer is reciprocating.

Schaefer said he'll meet with Hopkins in the near future and discuss other options.

"Ticket sales and the pay-per-view were poor, and it certainly had nothing to do with Bernard Hopkins," Schaefer said.

Yes, he actually said that.

Schaefer later added Hopkins is "a proven star."

Sorry, a proven star carries a pay-per-view to the 300,000-400,000 range even when he has an obvious victory. Schaefer tried to talk up high HBO ratings and a big live gate in Canada for Hopkins-Jean Pascal earlier this year. Pascal's from Canada.

So now, on the strength of less than two rounds of action and lackluster sales, a fight that was being hyped all last week by Golden Boy and ended in controversy now has no relevance?

OK, we get it.

Maybe that relevance was tarnished by putting the fight on pay-per-view. Staging a bout between a fighter from Philadelphia (Hopkins) and one from Connecticut (Dawson) was also puzzling.

"I don't need a media guy to tell me how to do a pay-per-view," Schaefer said. "We tried to sell the fight. Chad Dawson is not as charismatic as he needs to be to sell a pay-per-view. Our team [knows] how to market a pay-per-view. We know what we're doing."

Fine, but the lack of appeal in Hopkins has something to do with this.

In the meantime, we'll wait for Schaefer to find another opponent to prove his point.

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Your votes are in: The 20 greatest sports figures in L.A. history

--Lance Pugmire

Photo: Bernard Hopkins grimaces in pain after separating his shoulder during his fight with Chad Dawson. Credit: Jae Hong / Associated Press.

 

 

Al Davis, good or bad for the NFL? Plaschke and Simers discuss

Late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, who passed away earlier this month at age 82, was considered a bad guy and a villain by many, yet he was a pioneer who took his team to three championships.

Everything considered, was he good for the league?

Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers discuss the topic in their video series, L.A. Loud, moderated by Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin.

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--Melissa Rohlin

Funeral services for Dan Wheldon set for Saturday in Florida

Funeral services for Dan Wheldon, the IndyCar driver who was killed Sunday during a crash in Las Vegas, will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. Eastern time in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Wheldon's wife, Susie, issued a statement saying that “although the last few days have been unbearable for our family, the overwhelming love and support we have received are rays of sunshine during these dark days. The outpouring of sympathy and condolences has been so comforting, and I want to thank everyone for their kind notes, letters, gifts and flowers.”

"Dan touched the lives of many people, and I would like to invite those citizens in our community who knew and loved my husband to attend his funeral service. Though we won't be able to fit everyone inside, I know that Dan would have wanted the community to share in the celebration of his life and to grieve his passing. Thank you again. I am forever grateful for your kindness."

IndyCar said the public can send donations to the Dan Wheldon Family Trust, set up for Wheldon's survivors, to: Fifth Third Private Bank, Attn: Dan Wheldon Family Trust, 251 N. Illinois St., Suite 1000, Indianapolis, IN 46204.

Those wishing to send their condolences to the Wheldon family can address letters to: The Wheldons, 600 Koger Blvd. N, Suite 105, St. Petersburg, FL 33702.

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— Jim Peltz

Photo: A bottle of milk sits among flowers and mementos at a memorial for Dan Wheldon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway gate. Credit: Matt Kryger / Associated Press

 

UCLA basketball: Bruins to start season with poll position

With more than three weeks before its season opener, the UCLA men's basketball team has already accomplished something it didn't last season: The Bruins are ranked in the first ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll.

UCLA checked in at No. 20, one of three Pacific 12 Conference schools ranked. Arizona is No. 16 and California is No. 24. The Associated Press has not released its first poll.

The Bruins were not ranked in either poll last season, even during a late-season stretch in which they won 12 of 14 games.

UCLA is scheduled to be one of six ranked teams participating in the Maui Invitational Nov. 21-23. The others are No. 4 Connecticut, No. 6 Duke, No. 9 Memphis, No. 13 Kansas and No. 18 Michigan. Tennessee and Chaminade, a Division II school, complete the field.

UCLA is to open the tournament against Chaminade on Nov. 21. If the Bruins don't win at least two games in the three days, they can say "aloha" to the rankings.

-- Ben Bolch

NASCAR plans car and helmet decals in memory of Dan Wheldon

NASCAR plans to provide its teams with decals honoring the memory of Dan Wheldon at this weekend's NASCAR races at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

Wheldon, a 33-year-old Englishman who this year won the Indianapolis 500 for the second time, was killed Sunday in a 15-car crash at the Izod IndyCar Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR said its car and truck teams would place decals on the so-called B post of their vehicles next to the side windows. NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series is racing Saturday and its Sprint Cup Series on Sunday.

The decal design includes a Lionheart Knight image that was a fixture on the back of Wheldon's racing helmets, NASCAR said, adding that it also was providing a version of the decal to NASCAR drivers to place on their helmets this weekend if they desired.

A moment of silence in Wheldon's memory also will be held prior to the invocations before both races this weekend, NASCAR said.

IndyCar plans a public memorial for Wheldon on Sunday in downtown Indianapolis.

— Jim Peltz

Photo: The decal honoring Dan Wheldon that NASCAR plans to provide for teams to place on their cars this weekend at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Credit: NASCAR

Scott Hall reveals his demons

Former WWE and WCW star Scott Hall discussed his ongoing battle with drugs and alcohol in an E:60 interview that aired on ESPN on Wednesday.

"There's got to be some reason that I'm still here," Hall said. "I should have been dead 100 times. I should have been dead 100 times."

The 52-year-old is on a pacemaker and takes about a dozen pills a day to soothe his anxiety and pain.

"I tell my kids this: 'I can't tell you not to drink and do drugs, they are fun. It's fun. They work,'" Hall said. "But what sucks is when you want to quit and you can't, and pretty soon you alienate or you hurt everyone around you. It's a family disease and then you can't keep a promise to anybody. What sucks the most is when you can't even keep a promise to yourself."

Hall has been arrested several times since his last WWE appearance in 2002. Stephanie McMahon, World Wrestling Entertainment's executive vice president of creative development and operations, said WWE has spent "in the six figures" to help him.

"It's the most amount of money we've spent on anyone," she said. "I just want Scott to get help and to decide for himself that he needs help. It makes me sad. I don't want anybody to pass away prematurely or otherwise really."

In the past few years, an alarming number of wrestlers have died from suicide and overdoses, including Eddie Guerrero (heart complications in 2005) and Chris Benoit (murder-suicide in 2007).

According to a Washington Post story published in 2007, Dave Meltzer, the founder and editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, counted 60 wrestlers who have died since 1997, before age 50.

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London 2012 Olympics diary: gold medallist Steve Ovett in Olympic tickets snub

Odd: Steve Ovett was asked to promote tickets just as long as he didn't ask for any himself (Photo: Rex Features)

While Lord Coe can claim to be the world’s most high-profile ex-athlete, his old running rival Steve Ovett would appear to be the forgotten man.

Ovett, who beat Coe to the 800 metres gold medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, was invited earlier this year to take part in the 2012 Olympic ticket launch in London, joining fellow Olympic champions Carl Lewis, Nadia Comaneci and Rebecca Adlington.

Since he now lives in Australia, he was offered free travel and accommodation but was told he would not be paid a fee.

He replied that  he was happy to help out but wondered whether he might be sorted out with a couple of tickets to the 1500 metres final in the Olympic Stadium.

He was shocked to receive a standard letter from the London organising committee acknowledging his ticket application and advising him to apply through the public ballot. Needless to say, he decided to give the ticket launch a miss.

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World champion Dai Greene may still be short of Kriss Akabusi’s British 400 metres hurdles record but he can at least boast another prestigious mark.

While working at a drive-thru McDonalds restaurant in Llanelli in 2003 he and his co-workers broke a company record for the number of cars served with their orders within an hour.

“We served something like 140 cars and were told it was a record,” says Greene proudly. “You could say I’ve gone from quarter-pounder to quarter-miler.”

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Worshippers of Zoroastrianism will be reassured that their spiritual needs will be well catered for at London 2012, with organisers promising the most diverse network of multi-faith chaplains ever seen at a Games.

Nearly 200 chaplains are currently being recruited to offer support and counselling in the athletes’ village and venues as well as the main workplace areas for volunteers and employees.

Under the contract with the International Olympic Committee, host cities are required to provide chaplains for the five main religions – Christianity, Islam, Hindusim, Buddhism, Judaism – but London will be going further by offering chaplains in Sikhism, Jainism, Baha’i and Zoroastrianism, which is estimated to have just 200,000 followers  worldwide.

“London is so diverse that for the last four years we have been working with the nine faiths that are usually recognised in the inter-faith network,” says Rev Canon Duncan Green, the London 2012 head of multi-faith services.

While providing specialist support in their own religions, the army of chaplains will be expected to work across different faiths.

Green said: “What we are actually saying is that whatever faith you are, we will cater for you, especially in our workforce because our workforce can be drawn from the UK, which is very ethnically diverse, or from all over the world.”

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Jemma Simpson, who topped the UK 800 metres rankings in 2010 but was hampered by injury problems this summer, has appealed against the decision of UK Athletics to drop her from the Lottery funding programme.

And quite right, too. Despite her health problems, Simpson still managed to finish third in this year’s domestic rankings and ran under the two-minute barrier, the benchmark for world-class 800m running, on two occasions.

But, bizarrely, she has axed from the World Class Performance Programme just nine months before the start of the Games.

Even stranger, Tasha Danvers, the injury-plagued Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medallist, remains on “podium” funding, despite having not managed a single race in 2011 and just one race in 2010.