Boxing Preview: Jean Pascal vs Adrian Diaconu

ByJose Espinoza

Tonight there will be a huge boxing gala taking place in Montreal. As the main event scheduled tonight, the much anticipated rematch between Jean Pascal and Adrian Diaconu will take place.

Some of the other fights included in the card will be the return of Eric Lucas and the WBC Youth Inter-Continental championship fight between David Lemieux and Delray Raines.

For those who are not yet familiar with Jean Pascal, the young, 27 years old, boxer from Montreal, should take a closer look at his record and what he has been able to accomplish in such a short career.

Pascal is the reigning WBC light heavyweight champion, a title he has earned after defeating Adrian Diaconu in June of this year.

Previously, Pascal fought a courageous bout against Carl Froch for the WBC super middleweight title, in which he lost the match but gained huge respect from the boxing community.

With a professional record of 24 victories with 16 knock outs and 1 loss, Pascal is one of the best young, right-handed boxers to emerge on the scene today. As the favourite going into this bout, Pascal will have to make good use of the jab and his quickness to defeat a much slower but powerful Diaconu.

At age 31, Adrian ‘The Shark’ Diaconu is a force to be reckoned with. Born in Romania, Diaconu has fought his way into the hearts of Canadians with his toughness and his willingness to take on any contender.

Currently, Diaconu is ranked fourth in the WBC standings with an astounding record of 26 victories (including 15 knock outs) and 1 loss.

To win this bout, Diaconu will have to be successful at taking Pascal off his game plan by setting the pace early with his powerful punches and strong combinations to the body.

Although Diaconu is the smaller fighter at 5’9 (Pascal stands at 5’11), he is generally though by boxing analysts as the more powerful puncher. To win back his WBC belt, Diaconu will have to be in much better physical shape than in his last outing, which left many of us wondering about with conditioning.

In Canada, there is no greater fighter than our very own Eric Lucas. In his spectacular career, Lucas has fought tremendous talent such as Roy Jones Jr., Mikkel Kessler and Alex Hilton, just to name a few.

This will be his first fight since his 2006 loss, which prompted him to retire. His opponent on Friday will be Ramon Pedro Moyano, an Argentinean fighter who has had some success but ultimately should result in a victory for Lucas. At age 38, this should be a great comeback for Canada’s favourite son, the strong and fearless Eric Lucas.