Moments ago, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, unified WBA, IBF & WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev battered a game former champion Jean Pascal into submission in the 8th round of entertaining battle. Although Kovalev never really appeared to be in any serious trouble, Pascal made him fight, having moments of success throughout the fight.
Kovalev patiently stalked in the first round as Pascal circled on the outside, hoping to draw him into a counter shot. It didn't take long for Kovalev to find his distance. By the second round, he regularly found a home for his jab and right hand. Pascal started to find some success in the third round, landing some nice counter shots, but Kovalev walked right through them and landed a devastating straight left that rocked the challenger. A follow-up barrage from Kovalev knocked Pascal through the ropes for a knockdown. Fortunately for Pascal, it was right at the end of the round, so he was saved from any follow-up attack.
Kovalev wasted no time in jumping on him at the start of the fourth round, landing a barrage of punches in the corner that put Pascal on the retreat. Pascal, however, landed some big counter shots that got the attention of Kovalev. In the fifth round, the tide appeared to be changing as Pascal continued to land some big counter punches, putting the champion on his heels. Undeterred, Kovalev stuck to his game plan, landing multiple jabs followed by combinations. In the eighth round, Kovalev began to batter Pascal, landing a series of big shots that looked like they were going to drop the challenger again, but the champion himself somehow slipped to the canvas. After the referee correctly ruled that it wasn't a knockdown and called for the fight to continue, Pascal simply waited in the corner, allowing Kovalev to walk right to him and land two right hands that prompted the referee to officially call a halt to the fight at 1:03 of round 8.
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