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Big, big fight tonight in the light heavyweight division as the man at the weight, Sergey Kovalev, seeks to turn back the ambition of former WBC titlist Jean Pascal at the Bell Centre in Montreal.
Kovalev, 26-0-1 (23), will be entering the lion’s den as local resident Pascal, 29-2-1 (17), has made nine of his previous ten appearances at the massive venue, which is sure to contain many partisan Pascal fans.
But Russian born Florida resident Kovalev has fought his entire professional career on the road and will bring far more advantages to the table that the sole plus of location that Pascal will enjoy in this contest.
Since winning the WBO crown by battering Nathan Cleverly in 2013, Kovalev was served up three grade B challengers in short order but to be fair, dispatched the trio of Ismayl Sillah, Cedric Agnew and Blake Caparello with little difficulty.
All three had impressive records on paper going into the Kovalev fights but had never faced world class opposition and that dearth of experienced showed once the bell rang.
That couldn’t be said of Kovalev’s most recent opponent, modern day great Bernard Hopkins, who “Krusher” made look every day of his 49 years of age as “The Alien” couldn’t work his magic bag of tricks this time around, hitting the canvas in the first round and losing a very wide points decision and with it the WBA and IBF belts.
Pascal had also faced Hopkins, on two occasions, losing the WBC title by decision in 2011 and drawing with the old master in 2010.
It could be said that Kovalev obviously faced an older Hopkins than Pascal did, so perhaps that yardstick isn’t such a valid one.
Pascal did lose to a WBC super middle title shot to Carl Froch in 2008, jumping up a division in 2009 and winning the WBC light heavy crown with a convincing points verdict over cross-town rival Adrian Diaconu.
In his third defense, Pascal upset previously undefeated Chad Dawson in a 2010 thriller, battering the American for most of the contest but then had to hang on for dear life after running out of gas in the later rounds.
After the Hopkins series, Pascal won two comeback fights before looking good in outpointing faded former super middleweight world champ Lucien Bute over a year ago in one of Canada’s biggest domestic clashes ever, picking up the NABF strap in the process this past January.
Pascal finally returned to the ring in December, but had a two round no contest against Roberto Bolonti.
The big question that will be answered this evening is will Pascal present a real challenge to Kovalev?
The champion possesses formidable skills, much like another former highly decorated product of the Russian amateur system, Gennady Golovkin, and is exceptional in maneuvering opponents before bombarding them with economical, highly accurate combinations.
Pascal is a good fighter but in order to win this fight must put Kovalev on the back foot and outwork him but at the same time, conserve energy and not tire in the later rounds.
In order to do this, Pascal will also have to be able to take the impressive concussive punches that he will undoubtedly get caught with.
All of this presents a very difficult challenge, something 27 previous opponents have been unable to surmount when facing Kovalev.
Look for Kovalev to exhibit his usual patient, methodical approach and break down the will, ambition and energy reserves of Pascal, who should be able to finish on his feet but lose a wide points decision.
On the undercard, former two-time cruiserweight world champion Steve Cunningham, 28-6 (13), continues his quest at heavyweight, as he looks to avoid becoming a stepping stone against unbeaten prospect Vyacheslav Glazkov, 19-0 (12).
Glazkov has a win over a faded Tomasz Adamek but struggled to victory against Derrick Rossy and was held to a draw by Malik Scott.
At age 38, Cunningham is clearly past his best but could have enough left in the tank to outbox Glazkov.
