Pascal could face the Hopkins-Dawson winner

By Dan Ambrose: HBO is reportedly interested in having former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-2-1, 16 KO’s) face the winner of the October 15th showdown between Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KO’s) and the current WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO’s).

Pascal’s promoter Yvone Michel states that he was told by HBO that Pascal is in the running to face the winner of the Hopkins vs. Dawson fight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

This wouldn’t be such a bad idea if Dawson emerges as the winner, as he was beaten by Pascal a year ago in a fight where Pascal was out on his feet in the 11th round when he clashed heads with Dawson, opening up a bad cut over Dawson’s left eye that resulted in the fight being stopped.

Pascal did enough to get the win but the timing of the stoppage really helped Pascal because he was badly hurt and it looked like Dawson was poised to finish him off. However, Pascal, ranked #5 WBC, has already fought Hopkins twice in a row and looked terrible in both fights.

Pascal fought to a 12 round draw in the first fight with Hopkins last December, and then was beaten by a 12 round decision last May in a rematch. Having Hopkins face Pascal yet again is really a bad idea. Why would HBO want to show a third fight between Hopkins and Pascal? It probably has to do with ratings.

Both Hopkins-Pascal fights did well in the ratings despite being painfully boring fights to watch. This would be a fight that what cater specifically to Pascal and Hopkins diehard fans and less to the casual boxing fans, who have already seen them fight twice and don’t want to see a third fight.

Hopefully, Hopkins loses to Dawson so that we’re spared watching him fight Pascal yet again. It’s too much already. There needs to be someone else mixed in between them because it almost seems as if Pascal, Hopkins and Dawson are the only fighters in the light heavyweight division as far as HBO goes. I’d much prefer to see unbeaten Ukrainian Ismayl Sillakh get a chance at the winner of Hopkins-Dawson.

Sillakh is ranked higher than Pascal at number #3 by the World Boxing Council, and I also see Sillakh as a much better fighter than him. Sillakh isn’t someone that runs out of gas after 4 rounds and is limited to running around and throwing pot shots the way Pascal is. I think HBO needs to mix in some new blood because I think it’s bad for boxing fans to have to see Pascal-Hopkins III when it’s pretty clear that Pascal isn’t talented enough to beat Hopkins. If HBO wants to show Hopkins-Pascal III, they need to stuff it on a undercard, way down below more exciting fights that have more interest for fans.

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