By Rick Reeno

Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas - At the WBC's 49th annual convention, the sanctioning body issued an order that requires light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32KOs) to fight Chad Dawson (30-1, 17KOs) in a rematch.

The two boxers fought on October 15th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The fight came to an abrupt end in the second round, when Hopkins leaned over Dawson while charging in, and the challenger pushed him off. Hopkins fell to the mat and suffered a shoulder injury. 

The injury prevented Hopkins from being able to continue, and the referee Pat Russell named Dawson as the winner by way of second round technical knockout. A few days later the WBC held a vote and their championship board disagreed with Russell's ruling. The title was returned to Hopkins.

On Tuesday, the California State Atheltic Commission granted an appeal filed by Golden Boy Promotions on behalf of Hopkins. The final outcome of his loss to Dawson was reversed and officially listed as a no-contest.

On Thursday morning, Dawson's promoter Gary Shaw, still steaming from Tuesday's ruling, made a sound case for an immediate rematch, which received approval from WBC president Jose Sulaiman and various board members who agreed with Shaw's position for the rematch.

In other news, WBC cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk of Poland was ordered to have a rematch with top contender Francisco Palacios of Puerto Rico.