(Photo Credit: Vincent Ethier – Interbox) By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBC 175lb champion Jean Pascal (30-3-1, 17 KOs) rates former super middleweight world champion Carl Froch as a better puncher than IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs), who Pascal will be facing this Saturday night on January 30th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.
Pascal lost to Froch eight years ago in 2008 in losing by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 116-112, 117-111 ND 118-110. Pascal was never shaken up in the fight or in danger of being knocked out.
One question you have to wonder about Pascal’s appraisal of Kovalev and Froch’s punching power is why didn’t Froch KO him? I mean, if Froch is supposed to be a better puncher than Kovalev, then why in the heck was Pascal able to handle his punching power for 12 rounds?
Kovalev had Pascal hurt on two occasions in their fight last March, and he stopped Pascal in the 8th round. It stands to reason that if Kovalev was able to KO Pascal, then that suggests to me that Froch doesn’t punch as hard as Kovalev. I’m just saying. This is kind of a no-brainer, don’t you think?
“The most powerful man I’ve fought is Carl Froch, then Sergey in second,” Pascal said to esnewsreporting.com. “He’s [Kovalev] not super-smart but he’s not dumb,” Pascal said about his upcoming opponent. It’s going to be a great fight; what Sergey brings I’m sure this time we’ll be able to keep up with it.”
Since Pascal’s fight with Froch was so many years ago, I have a hard time buying into Pascal’s recollection of Froch’s power. We’re talking about a fight that took place eight years ago. I wouldn’t expect any fighter to be able to have perfect recall for a fight that was staged that many years ago. I mean, if the Froch-Pascal fight took place last year in March or sooner, then I could believe what Pascal is saying about Froch being the bigger puncher than Kovalev. But with the fight taking place so many years ago, I don’t know if it’s realistic to assume that it’s valid what Pascal is saying.
I wish Froch had simply moved up in weight seven pounds and fought Kovalev while he was still around so that we could know how well Froch would do against the Russian fighter. I don’t think Froch would have done well at all. In my view, Kovalev does everything that Froch can do but he does it much better.
Froch (33-2, 24 KOs) doesn’t have the same unbeaten record as Kovalev, and he definitely doesn’t have a KO percentage like Kovalev. Froch knocked out 69% of his opponents during his career. In contrast, Kovalev has knocked out 86%. I don’t know about you, but that tells me that Kovalev was the better puncher than Froch and the better knockout artist.
It’s going to be interesting to see how Pascal does against Kovalev in the rematch. Pascal is with new trainer Freddie Roach now, and he believes that he’s improved him as a fighter. I have my doubts. Pascal is up there in age at 33, and I don’t think for a second Roach is going to improve him enough to where he’ll be able to beat Kovalev.
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