Don't miss all the action this Saturday, December 18, as WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal puts his titles on the line against future Hall of Famer and light heavyweight king Bernard Hopkins at Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada and televised live on Showtime. What's at stake? How will the fight play out? Check out the FightHype Breakdown to see why you don't want to miss this fight!
WHAT DOES IT MEAN...
The end of 2010 has been good to us as boxing fans
there were events, there were dramatic fights, and there were terrific performances. The only thing left to decide is the light heavyweight champion, and that gets sorted out this Saturday.
Jean Pascal won the championship from Chad Dawson in August. A betting underdog coming off his longest career layoff, he was able to out-hustle Dawson, who seemed unable to adjust to Pascal's movement, speed and style. By the time Pascal got off and moved, Dawson was just trying to get set. Pascal has proven willing to fight just about anyone they will put in front of him, from Adrian Diaconu, in a battle of undefeated fighters with huge Canadian support, to Chad Dawson the champ
all the way across the pond in England to meet Carl Froch in his own backyard. So it should come as little surprise that he was happy to oblige Bernard Hopkins' desire for another crack at the 175-pound championship. If Pascal wins, he could be in line for a fight with the Super Six winner, or a match-up against fellow countryman Lucian Bute in what would be an absolutely huge event in Canada. If Pascal were to lose, there is always the rematch with Dawson, or even a fight against one of the Super Six losers looking to move up to 175.
For Bernard Hopkins, the end of the line has to come at some point in time, right? He will be 46 in a month and has had a storied first ballot Hall of Fame career. After a long and unparalleled reign as the middleweight champion, he moved up to fight Antonio Tarver in a grudge match. From there, he went on to meet Winky Wright at a catch-weight and handled him before losing to Joe Calzaghe. Everyone expected him to be done after that, but with one more great performance, he met Kelly Pavlik at a catch-weight of 170 pounds and beat, what appears to be, the career out of him. To me, that was the perfect time to walk away. Instead, he had a couple more fights, one of which was against Roy Jones Jr. coming off a first round knockout loss and , unfortunately, it seemed to show some of that age on Ex. I would like to think that with a win here, Hopkins will walk away, but you just never know with the guy. Same goes for a loss. Bernard Hopkins is one proud fighter and sometimes, those guys just refuse to walk away. So with that, I won't even begin to guess what he could or would do next, win or lose.
WHEN THE BELL RINGS...
No matter how many times I try to think this fight through, I come to one conclusion
Bernard Hopkins will try to slow this down, turn it ugly, and make it a less than entertaining affair because with that comes his best chance.
Recently, we saw Jean Pascal consistently beat Chad Dawson to the punch and use a lot of leg work to keep the fight at a tempo he liked best. Many seemed to question his stamina in that fight because he would appear to take rests and then flurry, but a lot of that had to do with coming off the longest layoff of his career. Moreover, Dawson is a guy with quick hands and very good counter punching ability, so the last thing Pascal wanted to do was stay around too long and get caught clean.
Bernard Hopkins is most comfortable if he can hold and mug on the inside, counter from the outside, and get his opponent to dispense with their jab. Taking away the jab has always been key for him, and Bernard Hopkins does it as well as anyone I have seen.
From the opening bell, expect Pascal to push the pace and make the much older man uncomfortable with the amount of work he will have to do in order to keep up. Pascal likes to leave his hands low at times so he can uncoil a big shot, and will even jump in if he feels comfortable, but he will also work in behind a jab and happily war on the inside; not mug, but fight. It would not surprise me to see Hopkins get warned early and often for holding, and since he is fighting in the champ's backyard, it is something to keep an eye on.
After the first few rounds, it will probably look something like the first Jermain Taylor fight. Hopkins will be behind and working to nullify the hand and foot speed advantage of his opponent, but the difference here is that he is 5 years older, and Pascal not only has a better chin and better footwork than Taylor, but he also has better stamina.
As the middle rounds begin to pass, Bernard Hopkins will have his moments, highlighted by the straight right, and his dedication to defense. Slip and fire
feint and the moment Pascal bites, throw the lead right followed by the top of the head. The champion may very well grow frustrated at times, and Hopkins is a master at sensing that, but with the championship rounds approaching, will he be able to close the gap and completely take over the fight?
THE CALL...
This isn't Jean Pascal's first time in a big event; he has been there before, whether it was in Canada against other big names, or in England against Carl Froch. He knows what a big crowd feels like, and he knows what a big fight feels like he won't be intimidated by the moment.
At this point in time, Hopkins just doesn't fight enough in each round to wear a guy like Pascal down. Even if Pascal only wanted to fight for half the round, it would be more than what Hopkins is comfortable with these days; and to be fair, he is just shy of 46, so what can you really expect? In your mid-40's, eventually you go in there and it just is not there like it once was; the skills are, so is the mentality, but that athletic ability just cannot match the hungry 28 year old across the ring from you.
Hopkins will try to surge a bit when he feels he has slowed things down and increased the mugging, but it just won't be enough, especially in Pascal's hometown. As he has gotten older, it has always been those fast twitch fighters that cause Hopkins the most problems
Jermain Taylor and Joe Calzaghe are the two that come to mind. Jean Pascal is from that mold too and has a style that he mixes up well in there.
I am not sure that I see this fight turning out to be all that entertaining, but for the first time, I figure that we will see people hard pressed to argue that Hopkins won the decision, even Bernard himself. Oh, he'll try to state his case, but at his age, he just will not have enough.
Pascal by unanimous decision is the call
116 112, maybe 117 111 with the hometown crowd influencing the judges in a close round or two. And with that, we bid farewell to 2010 and look forward to what appears to be a nice start to 2011. Happy holidays fight fans!
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