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Pascal keeps his belt

Amid all the accusations of biased Canadian officials and shouts for a rematch, World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman was the voice of the reason after Jean Pascal of Montreal retained his world light heavyweight title in a wild majority draw with veteran Bernard Hopkins.
Bernard Hopkins, Jean Pascal
Jean Pascal

QUEBEC — Amid all the accusations of biased Canadian officials and shouts for a rematch, World Boxing Council president Jose Sulaiman was the voice of the reason after Jean Pascal of Montreal retained his world light heavyweight title in a wild majority draw with veteran Bernard Hopkins.

”I want to express my deep satisfaction for such a great fight,” Sulaiman said Sunday morning, only hours after Pascal kept his championship belt by the slimmest of margins against a 45-year-old ring legend who got up twice from the canvas to deliver a lesson in tactical boxing to his 28-year-old opponent.

”I think it will be a candidate for fight of the year in the WBC. I understand there have been different opinions, but this is boxing. I would not like to take away from a great match. The charisma was created all over the world.”

American judge Steve Morrow scored the 12-round bout 114-112 for Hopkins while Canadian Claude Paquette and Belgian Daniel Van der Wiele had it a draw. The two draws were in the majority and Pascal (26-1-1) kept his WBC and minor IBO belts as well as his recognition by The Ring magazine as the world’s best 175-pound fighter.

But the Hopkins camp, led by the head of Golden Boy Promotions Richard Schaefer, were outraged that their fighter was denied a victory he desperately wanted in order to be become the oldest boxer ever to win a world title, beating heavyweight George Foreman’s win at 45 years 10 months in 1994.

“This really is a shame for Canada, a shame for boxing, to have a decision like that,” Schaefer thundered at a post-fight news conference.

“That is what is wrong with boxing.

“You should look at the scorecards. It happens all the time up here. It’s a disgrace and we will file a protest, the WBC will order an immediate rematch and we will see all the legal remedies we have because this is wrong.”

Even Schaefer had to backtrack later when it was demonstrated that, despite fears the scorecards had been tampered with, that all three were properly recorded.

And few could argue with the result.

Pascal won the first five rounds, with an extra point for knockdowns in the first and third, while most felt Hopkins won the final seven but never took his opponent down. That adds up to a draw.

There is little doubt that Golden Boy will be back if a rematch is negotiated. There are few places left in North America that can attract more than 16,200 paying customers for boxing and have the electric atmosphere that was felt in the Pepsi Colisee.

What may have made the fight was Pascal using his superior speed to take the early lead, forcing Hopkins, who tends to put fans asleep with his methodical, defence-first style, to go on attack in what turned out to be a dramatic spectacle.

Hopkins came ever so close to pulling out a win.

Van de Wiele scored the 10th round a 10-10 draw, but had he given the round to Hopkins as the other two did, The Executioner would have his title. But the Belgian also scored the first round 10-9 despite the knockdown, while the other two had it 10-8 for Pascal, so the two scores cancelled each other out.

The fight contract called for a rematch only if Hopkins lost, but if a protest is filed, the WBC board of governors will study it and may order the two to fight again. Sulaiman said having the two sides agree on their own to hold a rematch would be best in order to settle for good which fighter should hold the title.

“I think it would be a great match again: a lot of money for the promoters,” the Venezuelan said. “I don’t believe either boxer is satisfied.

“If both want it and both promoters agree, why not? But for me to raise a scandal? No. The most important thing is that this was a great fight. All the world is talking about this fight. Why destroy it with negative comments?”

Pascal already has an obligation to give a rematch to his previous victim, Chad Dawson, but the U.S. premium TV channels, Showtime which aired Pascal-Hopkins, and HBO, would likely be more interested in paying for these two to go at it again.

And when big money is involved — both fighters reported earned in excess of $1 million — it usually carries the day.

”It would be anticlimactic to have a Dawson rematch now,” said New York matchmaker Don Majeski. ”This is the rematch everyone wants.”

Much is at stake for both Pascal and Hopkins.

Hopkins, a fitness fanatic who doesn’t drink or party, put to rest any notion that his skills have eroded with age and the Philadelphia native who defended his middleweight title 20 times from 1995 to 2005 demonstrated he can he champion of the relatively thin light heavyweight class.

Pascal needs to fix the flaws in his game that Hopkins exposed by hurting him to the body, making him miss and look wild time and again, and taking over from the sixth round on. His credibility as a world class champion that looked to be secured with the win over Dawson needs to be re-established.

”I was hesitant, I wasn’t the boxer I usually am,” said Pascal, who made the fourth defence of the WBC belt he won from fellow Montreal fighter Adrian Diaconu in June, 2009. ”He’s a great boxer. I learned, but he didn’t give me a boxing lesson.

”He adjusted to my style and that’s why he did better in the last six rounds than in the first six. But I think I did enough to win the fight. I’m the champion, I was at home, I knocked him down twice, so in my mind I know I won, but I want a rematch to make that clear.”

In the sixth, Pascal suddenly stopped throwing punches for two rounds and there was concern that his history of right shoulder trouble was being repeated, but he and trainer Marc Ramsay denied there was any injury.

”At the beginning Hopkins was not on offence or counter-punching,” said Ramsay. ”He stayed at middle distance and tried to play reflex against reflex.

”Jean was able to approach to about one inch of Hopkins’ reach and just explode and catch him and hurt him with the two knockdowns. After that, Hopkins adjusted and whenever Jean was close, he was able to change the distance, step back, step up, change the angle so Jean couldn’t attack. He is pretty smart.”

Pascal is now in the same boat that fellow Montrealer Lucian Bute when he retained his IBF super-middleweight title despite being floored in the dying seconds of the 12th round by Librado Andrade two years ago. Bute got up to beat the bell and get the win, but most felt he lost the fight.

Bute is to attend a news conference Monday to announce his March 19 bout at the Bell Centre in Montreal, reportedly against Ireland’s Brian Magee. IBF super-bamtamweight champ Steve Molitor of Sarnia, Ont., will also be on the card.