By Ian S Palmer
Undefeated WBO/IBF and WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey Kovalev of Russia will be meeting Jean Pascal of Haiti at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada this Saturday, January 30th. This is a rematch of their bout last March 14th at the same venue in which Kovalev defended his titles via an eighth-round stoppage. The 12-round bout can be seen live in Canada and the U.S. on HBO while British fans can catch the action on BoxNation. Pascal has fought most of his career out of Montreal and is a two-time former champion.
The 33-year-old Pascal will enter the ring with an impressive record of 30-3-1 with 17 Kos. He has a 72-inch reach and stands 5-feet-11-inches tall. Pascal is strong and generally aggressive with a decent amount of power in his fists, but isn’t considered a knockout artist as his KO ratio stands at 49 per cent. He has a pretty good chin and speed to go along with his skills. He’s been in the ring with some of the best light heavyweights out there such as Adrian Diaconu, Carl Froch, Chad Dawson, Lucian Bute and Bernard Hopkins with other two defeats coming to Froch and Hopkins by decisions.
Pascal usually lets his hands go, but didn’t do so in his fight against Hopkins and paid for it. He likes to put the pressure on his opponents and possesses pretty good footwork. His knockouts usually come later on in fights after he’s worn his opponent down for several rounds. If he lands one square on the chin though, he’s got enough power to drop most fighters. He’s somewhat underrated and should be able to give the champion a another decent run for his money as long as his chin and body can handle Kovalev’s attack. He has plenty of experience with 253 pro rounds since 2005.
The 32-year-old Kovalev has a perfect mark of 28-0-1 along with 25 Kos to his name and has fought 95 rounds since turning pro in 2009. He has a 72.5-inch reach and is 6-feet tall. As his record indicates, Kovalev is a KO artist with an 86 percent knockout ratio and has enough power in his fists to drop opponents with both body and head shots. He’s an exceptional offensive boxer who also has a good defence and a solid chin. He likes to establish his snapping jab and punches in flurries rather than depending on one big shot. Pascal is probably still Kovalev’s toughest opponent to date and the reasons for this are his style and chin.
If he can take Kovalev’s big shots this time around and land enough of his own this will be a dramatic fight that could come down to a close decision. It will be hard for Pascal to keep the champion off of him though since he doesn’t really have the power to keep him at bay. Pascal’s best rounds should come early and once the fight hits the second half he will once again struggle to keep up.
Since their first fight, Kovalev stepped into the ring with Nadjib Mohammedi in July and stopped him in the third round in Las Vegas and Pascal beat Yunieski Gonzalez by 10-roud unanimous decision on the same card. In addition, Pascal has also changed trainers and is now working with Freddie Roach.
Prediction
For Pascal to win the titles he’s going to have to outwork Kovalev and keep him on the back foot. It might work early on, but Kovalev will eventually wade in and start to break him down with punishing shots. There’s a good chance this fight will go the distance and there could also be a late stoppage. Either way, look for Kovalev to retain the titles.
