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© Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing
The last big matchup of 2010 takes place tonight when Canadian Jean Pascal makes the fourth defence of his WBC 175 pound title against the veteran Bernard Hopkins in Quebec City.
British fans will remember Pascal for his thrilling points loss against Carl Froch in 2008 in a match for the vacant 168 pound WBC crown. That is still Pascal’s only defeat in 27 fights.
Since the Froch loss, Pascal has gone on to pick up world honours at 175 pounds and in his last fight against recognised division number one Chad Dawson, he took a technical decision win after 11 hard fought rounds.
In Hopkins, Pascal meets a ring veteran who has seen everything in a 22 year professional career. At 45, he seems to be in the same perfect physical condition as he was at 25.
Like Pascal, Hopkins will also be familiar to the British fight fan. In a close fought contest in April 2008, he lost a narrow points decision to Joe Calzaghe. Hopkins, though, is much, much more than that. A middleweight champion for 10 years and 20 defences, he has defeated such big names as Glen Johnson, Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya.
After his middleweight reign ended in a close fight against Jermain Taylor in 2005, Hopkins would, after losing a rematch, move up to the Light Heavyweight division to again take on the best in the weight class.
He would go onto defeat the likes of Antonio Tarver, Ronald Wright and Kelly Pavlik, the latter being when Pavlik was still middleweight champion.
It’s always hard to bet against Hopkins, even when he is fighting away from home. Who can forget Hopkins famously throwing the Puerto Rican flag to the adoring fans of Felix Trinidad before their superfight in 2001?
Pascal is good but he’s never met anyone quite like Hopkins. Hopkins is a unique fighter who is probably comparable to no-one.
Pascal is the younger fighter by 17 years but I’ve got a feeling that “The Executioner” can still outsmart and befuddle the champion, winning over the 12 round distance.
