(Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events) By Jim Dower: IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) stopped former WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (29-3-1, 17 KOs) by an 8th round TKO on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.
Kovalev knocked Pascal down in the 4th and 8th rounds. The fight was halted after Pascal got up from the knockdown and took two big right hands while trapped in the corner. Pascal barely stand at the time. Referee Luis Pabon halted the fight at 1:03 of the 8th.
The ending of the fight was somewhat controversial, as Pascal was still standing when the referee halted the fight. But in fairness to the referee, Pascal could barely stand and he took two really hard shots from Kovalev just before the stoppage.
Pascal appeared ready to be knocked out at the end of the 4th round after he was knocked down through the ropes at the end of the round. Pascal was fortunate that the knockdown came at the end of the round, because Pascal could barely walk as he walked back to his corner at the end of the round. The round ended just after Pascal got back to his feet. There was no way that Pascal would have made it out of the round.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNeO_yAFOCg
In rounds five and six, Pascal came back and appeared to edge the rounds by landing some big looping power shots. They still close rounds though, and you can make an argument that Kovalev did enough to win the 6th based on all the jabs he nailed Pascal with.
Kovalev nailed Pascal repeatedly with jabs to the head in the 7th round. Pascal looked really tired in that round and did basically nothing. The near the end of the round, Kovalev staggered Pascal with a hard left hook to the head. The punch shook Pascal up enough to where he looked unsteady on his feet as he walked back to his corner after the round.
At the start of the 8th, Kovalev rushed Pascal and nailed him with a flurry of punches. Pascal looked both tired and hurt. Kovalev then backed Pascal up against the ropes and hammered him to the side with two big right hands. Kovalev followed this up with a jarring left hook that sent Pascal into the ropes where he was half-sitting for support. Pascal then stood up and nailed Kovalev with a shot that knocked him down. The referee Luis Pabon ruled it as a slip though. It didn’t matter, because Pascal could barely walk as he staggered to the far corner. Pabon then checked Pascal out before letting the fight resume.
Kovalev then moved in for the kill and landed two big right hands to the head that snapped Pascal’s head. At that point the referee halted the fight. Not surprisingly, Pascal protested loudly that he was fine and that he could still fight. But there’s no way that Pascal would have been able to take another series of big shots from Kovalev, because Pascal’s legs were totally done at that point. Even when protesting, he was swaying back and forth on his legs like a drunken sailor. The ending was good for Pascal, because had the fight gone to it’s logical conclusion, he would have been flattened in an ugly manner in front of his own Canadian fans. At least with the fight being halted while Pascal was still on his feet, he was able to escape with some of his dignity intact. It enabled Pascal to have an argument that he could have fought on and rallied once again like he had in the 5th after he was badly hurt and knocked down in the 4th. Personally, I don’t think Pascal will do any better in a rematch with Kovalev, given how Pascal was dominated tonight. Yes, Pascal had his moments where he was able to land his big looping shots, but it was still mostly all Kovalev. Once Kovalev got his jab going in the 7th round, Pascal had no chance. He wasn’t tall enough and his reach wasn’t long enough to answer Kovalev’s jabs, and the fight immediately got out of control.
For Pascal, this is his first knockout loss of his pro career. I’m sure he’d like a rematch against Kovalev, but that obviously isn’t going to happen right now, because Kovalev is looking to get a crack at the WBC title.
With the win, Kovalev is now the WBC mandatory challenger to WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson. Bernard Hopkins, who worked the fight for HBO, said that Stevenson told him that he’ll fight Kovalev. It’s a situation where Stevenson’s back is against the wall. If he doesn’t fight Kovalev, then he’ll be stripped of his WBC title. There’s no other titles for Stevenson to grab and sit on the way he’s been sitting on the WBC title for the last two years, fighting one weak opponent after another. Stevenson absolutely has to face Kovalev if he wants to at least try and remain a champion
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#2 IBF, #5 WBC, #7 WBO heavyweight contender Vyacheslav Glazkov (20-0, 12 KOs) stayed unbeaten in defeating Steve Cunningham (28-7, 13 KOs) by a narrow 12 round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 116-112, 115-113, 116-112. Glazkov now is the IBF mandatory challenger to IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Glazkov is going to need to find some power somewhere if he wants to be able to compete against Wladimir, because the way Glazkov fought fought, he’ll be no match at all against Wladimir. It’s unfortunate that Glazkov didn’t have to face a better heavyweight than Cunningham to earn a title shot against Wladimir, because this wasn’t a major test. Cunningham is flawed, as if Glazkov as we saw tonight.
Cunningham dominated the first half of the fight by out-landing Glazkov. However, in the second half of the fight, Glazkov began to pick up steam and land really big shots in every round. Glazkov was still getting hit a lot by Cunningham, but he was landing with the better power. Cunningham seemed to gas out a little in the last six rounds.
Glazkov nailed Cunningham with some huge right hands that he took well. Cunningham looked tired and did a lot of clinching to try and slow Glazkov down.
It was a fight that Cunningham could have won had he been a little busier in the second half of the fight, but he just didn’t have the energy to keep pushing the fight against Glazkov.
With the victory, Glazkov keeps himself in position for a world title shot against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Glazkov needs to fight a lot better than he did tonight for him to have a chance against the 6’6″ Wladimir, because Glazkov is just too easy to hit, and not aggressive enough to compete against a big puncher like Wladimir.
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In a one-sided fight, #2 WBC light heavyweight contender Isaac Chilemba (24-2-2, 10 KOs) easily defeated a reluctant and badly Vasily Lepikhin (17-1, 9 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision.
Lepikhin, 29, fought like he didn’t want to be there tonight, as he rarely threw punches and spent much of the second half of the fight covering up on the ropes like a sparring partner. The final judges’ scores were 99-91, 99-91 and 100-90.
Lepikhin’s father/trainer constantly warned him in between rounds that he would stop the fight unless he started fighting hard, but he never did. His father probably should have halted the fight by the 5th round, because he looked like he didn’t have any real fire or desire to make a fight of it.
Chilemba’s victory puts him in position to fight for a title against WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson. Chilemba will likely have to wait for Sergey Kovalev, who will become the WBC mandatory if he defeats Jean Pascal tonight.
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Other boxing results on the card:
Dierry Jean KO 3 Carlos Manuel Reyes
Nadjib Mohammedi TKO 6 Lee Campbell
Dmitry Mikhaylenko RTD 5 Felipe De la Paz Teniente
Yves Ulysse Jr TKO 5 Miguel Antoine
David Theroux TKO 3 Lukasz Janik
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