By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten Dmitry Bivol of Russia will be defending his WBA Light Heavyweight Title against former world champion Jean Pascal of Haiti at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey this Saturday, November 34th. The 12-round bout can be seen live in the USA on HBO while fans in the UK and Ireland can catch it on BoxNation. Bivol last fought in August when he beat Isaac Chilemba by a unanimous decision. Pascal’s last outing was an eighth-round stoppage over Steve Bosse in July.
The 27-year-old Bivol was born in Kyrgyzstan and now fights out of Saint Petersburg. He had an excellent amateur career with a record of 268-15 and won numerous national championships before turning pro in 2014. Since then he’s boxed 88 rounds and has compiled a perfect record of 14-0 with 11 Kos. He certainly has better-than-average power with a knockout ratio of 79 per cent. Bivol stands 6-feet-1-inch tall, but has an unlisted reach. He’s got smooth boxing skills and always seems to eventually wear his foes down with his heavy hands.
He’s faced a few decent opponents so far with wins over Chilemba, Sullivan Barrera, Cedric Agnew, Robert Berridge and Felix Valera with Chilemba and Barrera definitely being the best of the bunch. Bivol won the interim WBA Championship in May of 2016 when he beat Valera by a unanimous decision. He was elevated to full champion when Badou Jack gave up the WBA title after beating former champ Nathan Cleverly. However, fans would love to see him step up the level of opposition and try to unite the titles with WBC champ Adonis Stevenson, WBO belt holder Eleider Alvarez or IBF king Artur Beterbiev.
Pascal, who fights out of Quebec, Canada, originally retired last year, but then decided against it. He’s now 36 years old and will be entering the ring with a record of 33-5-1 along with 20 Kos. He’s fought most of his career out of the Montreal area and is a two-time former champion at light heavyweight. Pascal has a 72-inch reach and stands 5-feet-11-inches tall, which means he’s two inches shorter than Bivol. He’s strong and generally aggressive with a decent amount of power in his fists, but isn’t considered a knockout artist as his KO ratio currently stands at 50 per cent.
Pascal has a pretty good chin and speed to go along with his skills even though he was stopped twice by Sergey Kovalev. He’s been in the ring with some fine light heavyweights and super middleweights such as Kovalev, Adrian Diaconu, Carl Froch, Chad Dawson, Lucian Bute, Bernard Hopkins and Eleider Alvarez with his other three defeats coming to Froch, Hopkins and Alvarez by decisions. Pascal usually lets his hands go and pressures his opponents while displaying pretty good footwork.
His knockouts usually come after he’s worn his opponent down for several rounds, but he has enough power to drop anyone if he lands one square on the chin. Pascal has plenty of experience with 289 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2005. I’m not really sure how he landed this title shot after beating mixed martial artist and former hockey player Bosse in a novelty fight earlier this year in Bosse’s second pro boxing bout.
Prediction…
Pascal certainly has to be aware of Bivol’s power, but you never really know which Bivol is going to show up. At his best, he looks like a devastating puncher who can take anybody out. However, he sometimes looks lethargic and is forced to go the distance. Perhaps Bivol fights to the level of his opponent. If that’s the case he’ll need to up his game on Saturday as Pascal’s a good boxer even though he is 36 years old now. Pascal needs to outwork Bivol by a wide margin and hope to take it on points. However, Bivol will eventually close the gap and break him down with punishing shots. It won’t be easy and there’s a chance this fight goes the distance too. Either way, look for Bivol to retain his belt.
