By Ian S Palmer
Light heavyweight Jean Pascal of Haiti will be taking on Roberto Bolonti of Argentina this Saturday, December 6th at the Bell Centre in his adopted hometown of Montreal, Canada. Pascal, the former light heavyweight champion, will be entering the ring with an impressive record of 29-2-1 with 17 Kos while Bolonti also has a pretty good mark of 35-3 along with 24 Kos to his name. This is a scheduled 12-round bout and it can be seen live on pay-per-view in North America while British fans can catch it on BoxNation.
Bolonti was scheduled to take on former champion Lucian Bute of Montreal, but he pulled out and was replaced by Donovan George. However, George also pulled himself out of the bout and Pascal gladly stepped up to the plate. Pascal’s 32 years old these days, but he’s still three years younger than his opponent. They’re both about the same height, but Pascal has the edge in pro experience as he’s boxed 233 rounds compared to 185 by Bolonti. Pascal last fought back in January when he beat Bute by a 12-round unanimous decision in a Montreal grudge match and Bolonti’s last bout was a 12-round unanimous decision loss to Juergen Braehmer in June.
There are a lot of well known Argentine boxers out there, but unfortunately Bolonti isn’t one of them. This isn’t to say he doesn’t have boxing skills and decent power, because he does. It’s just that he’s a relative unknown outside of his homeland. He turned pro back in and has beaten mainly fellow South Americans. His three losses have come at the hands of Toney Bellew by unanimous 12-round decision in 2012, Franco Raul Sanchez by four-round unanimous decision in 2006 and to Braehmer. He’s never been stopped, but seems to fall short whenever he steps up in class, which is what he’ll be doing here against Pascal.
Pascal turned pro in 2005 and has been beaten by Bernard Hopkins and Carl Froch by 12-round unanimous decisions in 2011 and 2008. However, he’s beaten former world champ Chad Dawson, as well as Darnell Boone, Kingsley Ikeke, and Adrian Diaconu (twice). He also fought to a 12-round draw with Hopkins. Pascal is expected to win this bout and he’s hoping to get a shot at one of the world champions such as Sergey Kovalev or Adonis Stevenson. But a loss will likely see a title shot go out the window, so he should be quite motivated for this encounter. If there is a cloud hanging over him, it’s inactivity as he’s fought just three times in the past three years.
In addition, Pascal also came up short when he took on elite boxers like Hopkins and Froch, but did manage to beat Dawson. Still, he’s a little bit overrated by many boxing fans. He throws enough punches in most of his contests, although that wasn’t true for the fights against Hopkins, but he doesn’t really possess a lot of power. He’s a pressure fighter, but might be facing someone with a solid chin in Bolonti on Saturday night. Pascal has good but not great boxing skills, and possesses a pair of fast hands. Bolonti will need to use his power to keep Pascal at bay and to establish his jab early on in the fight. Pascal should try to box Bolonti instead of trying to force a knockout against somebody who’s never been stopped.
Hopkins frustrated and confused Pascal in their two fights and the Haitian couldn’t get into a rhythm. Bolonti should try to do the same thing here and make sure he throws enough punches of his own to rack up points.
Prediction
Even though he’s reportedly signed to meet WBA/IBF/WBO champion Kovalev in a world title fight early next year, Pascal should realize he won’t get the shot if he loses this fight, especially in front of his hometown crowd. He should be able to do enough to pull out a decision over Bolonti, but a late stoppage isn’t out of the question either.
