Kovalev wanted to floor Pascal in the 8th, but the referee prevented him from doing it

By Boxing News - 03/15/2015 - Comments

kovalev3222444(Photo Credits: David Spagnolo/Main Events) By Dan Ambrose: Last night, former WBC 175 pound belt holder Jean Pascal (29-3-1, 17 KOs) was saved from himself by referee Luis Pabon who did Pascal a big favor in stopping his fight against IBF, WBA, WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (27-0-1, 24 KOs) in the 8th round with Pascal still on his feet and in command of his mental faculties at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

Pascal was batted around the ring in the 8th round until the referee stopped the fight after Pascal took two right hands that he didn’t even try and block from Kovalev.

Pabon could have let the fight continue, but he would have left Pascal in a position where he’d have risked getting dropped hard. Pascal looked like he was only a couple punches away from getting knocked out.

“He’s [Pascal] a good fighter and a good wrestler,” Kovalev said during the post-fight press conference last night. “He didn’t prove his worth because he’s a wrestler. I wanted to send him on the floor, deep sleep, but the referee stopped the fight. I think the referee saved him,” Kovalev said.

The ending of the fight was ideal for Pascal and his fans, because it gave him a chance to safe face by giving him the out where he could complain that he wasn’t badly hurt and could have continued fighting and even rallied.

For Kovalev, it was also good because he showed clearly in the 8th round that he was overpowering Pascal and had him in a punch drunk state.

You could see that after Kovalev knocked Pascal into the ropes in the round after hitting him hard with a left hook. Pascal walked across the ring after that punch landed, and he was on the verge of falling forward onto his face as he walked. Pascal then had to lean against the ropes when the referee was checking him out to see if he could continue fighting.

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It’s unfortunate that Kovalev didn’t get the opportunity to try and finish off Pascal the way he wanted to, because a clear knockout would have enhanced Kovalev’s image a lot more than him winning by having the fight stopped while Pascal was still on his feet.

It would have helped redeem Kovalev in a way to give him cover for the struggle that he had in beating Pascal. The fight wasn’t an easy one for Kovalev despite the fact that he was able to score a knockout over Pascal in the 8th. Pascal did a good job of rallying after getting knocked down in the 4th round.

Pascal landed some really yard shots in the 5th and 6th rounds, and it appeared to some that Pascal was on his way to winning the fight. But unfortunately, Kovalev came on strong in the 7th and 8th rounds and punished Pascal with big power shots. Pascal didn’t have the defense, energy or power to keep in the fight once Kovalev came on strong in the 7t and 8th rounds.

Kovalev will get a chance of knocking Pascal out in the future if/when they face each other again. In the meantime, Kovalev is going to try and get a fight against WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson.



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