Hopkins has MRI, resting, on pain meds for shoulder injury

Bernard Hopkins told RingTV.com on Monday that he is on pain medication with his left arm in a sling after Saturday night's fight in which Chad Dawson was awarded a second-round technical knockout after Hopkins suffered a shoulder injury.

Referee Pat Russell ruled that the 46-year-old Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs) could not continue after becoming entangled with the 29-year-old Dawson (31-1, 17 KOs) and getting shoved to the canvas.

The impact resulted in an injury that was later diagnosed by Dr. Sam Thurber at the California Hospital Medical Center as a separated acromioclavicular, or AC joint, which connects the collar bone and shoulder blade.

"I got an MRI today at about 4 p.m., and they're going to show me the results tomorrow. I had a busy day today. Mackey Shilstone, who I've been working with since the Joe Calzaghe fight, said that he will work with me on rehabbing the arm," said Hopkins.

"The MRI shows a lot more than the X-rays that I got on Saturday night, and I'm hoping that everything is cool. But they said that I should keep this sling on and keep it close to my ribs and my body where I don't aggravate it by moving it constantly or tweak it."

"I have a 9 a.m. appointment tomorrow, and as far as the pain, I'm on 500 milligrams of [pain medication,]" said Hopkins. "I'm not a pill guy, so I only take half of them, unless I get into a lot of pain at night where it's throbbing or it's like a heart-beat twitch in my shoulder."

As originally reported by Ringtv.com, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer has filed a protest seeking to overturn the ruling, having sent a video of the fight to WBC President Jose Sulaiman for review.

Jose Sulaiman has also spoken with California State Athletic Commission director George Dodd, and could have a decision by the end of the week, according to his son, WBC Secretary General Mauricio Sulaiman.

What does Hopkins want the commission to do?

"First of all, I'm hoping that the commission in Los Angeles does the right thing and rewards my championship on paper back, and, second, disqualif(ies) Chad Dawson for a flagrant foul. That was not an accident. I could have broken my neck or fractured a vertebrae. I've got a family. He's got a family," said Hopkins.

"I've done things in the past. I've hit a guy on the hip. I've done things that a Jersey Joe Walcott or a Rocky Marciano would do. But I've never bitten anybody's ear. I've never picked nobody up and tried to throw them from the ring. I personally think that he should have been disqualified."

Does Hopkins want a rematch?

"I don't think the fans want a rematch," said Hopkins. "But if they think it's worthy of a rematch, I would fight him today or tomorrow."

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lem.satterfield@gmail.com