Jean Pascal

Jean Pascal
Pascal in 2008
Statistics
Real name	Jean-Thenistor Pascal
Rated at	Super middleweight Light heavyweight
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Reach	72 in (183 cm)
Nationality	Haitian Canadian
Born	(1982-10-28) October 28, 1982 Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	36
Wins	30
Wins by KO	17
Losses	4
Draws	1
No contests	1
Medal record Men's boxing Competitor for  Canada Jeux de la Francophonie 2001 Ottawa-Hull Light middleweight Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester Light middleweight Pan American Games 2003 S Domingo Middleweight

Jean-Thenistor Pascal (born October 28, 1982) is a Haitian Canadian professional boxer. He is a former WBC, lineal and The Ring magazine light heavyweight champion.

Early life

Pascal was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. When Pascal was four, his mother (a nurse) and older brother (Nicholson Poulard) had left Haiti and settled in Laval, Quebec, just outside Montreal. His father, a well-respected politician, remained in Haiti. Pascal played hockey and soccer, but after watching his older brother become the Quebec Boxing Champion in 1996, Pascal, at 13 years of age, started to visit boxing gym "Club Champions St-Michel" once or twice every week. His first trainer was Sylvain Gagnon, who considered Pascal to be very talented. According to an interview from May 2005, Pascal's idol was Roy Jones Jr..^[1]

He represented Canada as a middleweight at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Professional career

Super-middleweight

Pascal made his professional debut in February 2005. After nine wins, Pascal won the Canada National and Quebec boxing Council (CQB) super-middleweight titles in a national bout against Martin Desjardins, winning in round seven. After two more fights, Pascal won the TAB (Trans America Boxing) title against Darnell Boone. Pascal boxed Lucas Green Arias in September 2006 at the Montreal Casino for the vacant WBC Latino title. Pascal sent Arias to the canvas with a flurry of punches in the sixth round. Arias got up for the final second of the round, but moments later slid off the stool in his corner, vigorously rubbing his head. He was unable to get up for the seventh round, making Pascal the winner. He was given oxygen in the ring and then was taken to the hospital on a stretcher.^[2] It was revealed that he suffered a subdural hematoma.^[3]

On November 18, 2006, Pascal defeated Jermain Mackey by unanimous decision to win the NABO super-middleweight title. Pascal then defeated Lafarrell Bunteng by unanimous decision on March 10, 2007, defending the NABO belt.

Pascal defeated Christian Cruz by technical knockout in the tenth round to retain his NABO title and win the vacant NABA and NABF titles. This win solidified his reputation at the national level.

Pascal successfully defended the NABO/NABF/NABA super-middleweight titles with a ten round unanimous decision over Brian Norman in December 2007.

Froch vs Pascal

At 21-0, Pascal got his first world title shot when he was matched against the 23-0 Carl Froch for the vacant WBC super-middleweight title on December 6, 2008 at the Trent FM Arena in Froch's hometown of Nottingham, England. Pascal held his own, with both men consistently tagging each other throughout the bout. However, Froch won a hard-fought, exciting contest which had many close rounds by a unanimous decision. The scorecards read 112-116, 111-117 and 110-118. Since the bout, Froch and Pascal have become friends on a personal level and have made a promise to face each other again in the future.

After the loss, Pascal fought Pablo Daniel Zamora Nievas on April 4, 2009 and won the fight by knockout in the fifth round to win the vacant WBO Inter-Continental super-middleweight title.

Light-heavyweight

Pascal then moved up in weight to the light-heavyweight division to challenge the 26-0 WBC light-heavyweight champion, Adrian Diaconu on June 19, 2009 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Pascal won the bout and the title by a unanimous decision. About two months after the fight on August 12, 2009 the city of Laval honored Pascal.

Pascal defended his WBC light-heavyweight title for the first time on September 25, 2009 against the WBC's mandatory challenger, aged Italian veteran Silvio Branco, retaining his title with a tenth round stoppage.

Pascal's second title defense came on December 11, 2009 in a rematch against Adrian Diaconu. Just like the first fight against Diaconu, the fight ended in another win by decision. Throughout the fight Pascal seemed to be having problems with his right arm, starting around round five. However it did appear that his cutman, Russ Anber, was able to pop the shoulder back in before the start of round eleven. Five days after the fight on December 16, 2009 Pascal underwent arthroscopic surgery for his right shoulder.^[4] Doctors removed a bone chip and repaired the labrum in his shoulder.

In June 2010, Pascal re-signed a multi-million dollar contract with promoter Groupe Yvon Michel in which he was guaranteed $1,050,000 to defend his title against Chad Dawson, as well as another $1,500,000 guaranteed in the fight following Dawson, which happened to be Bernard Hopkins. The contract is the most lucrative ever given out to a boxer in Quebec boxing history. Pascal has become the first Canadian boxer to receive more than a million dollars for a fight in Canada.^[5]

Pascal vs Dawson

For Pascal's third title defense, he fought Chad Dawson for Pascal's WBC light-heavyweight title, and the vacant Lineal & The Ring light-heavyweight titles. Pascal dominated the early action and worked well in the middle rounds but seemed to tire late and get frequently caught by the favored Dawson. Pascal won the fight by a technical decision part way through the eleventh round due to an accidental head butt that caused a major cut over Dawson's right eye and was stopped by the ring-side doctor. However Pascal easily won the fight according to the judges' scorecards with scores of 108–101 and 106–103.^[6]

Pascal vs Hopkins

Following Pascal's upset of Chad Dawson, 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins was soon named his next opponent for him to defend his WBC/Lineal/The Ring light-heavyweight titles.^{[7][8][9][10][11]} Within the first 48 hours of tickets being on sale for Pascal/Hopkins, more than 15,000 tickets were sold.^[12] In preparation for the fight, Pascal spent forty days training in Miami.^[13]

The fight took place at the Colisée Pepsi in Quebec City on December 18, 2010. Pascal started strong in the fight, scoring two knockdowns in the first three rounds. One knockdown in the first round, which was disputed by Hopkins as an illegal blow to the back of the head and another knockdown in the third round. However, following the early rounds, the two fighters each held their own, however only to have the fight end in a controversial majority draw.

At the end of 2010, Ring Magazine rated Pascal as the 14th best boxer in the world as part of their yearly Top One Hundred Boxers ranking. Pascal moved up fifty-one places on the list, compared to his 2009 ranking of 65. The jump in the rankings was directly attributed to Pascal's upset of Chad Dawson, since the list came out before Pascal fought Bernard Hopkins.^[14]

Pascal vs Hopkins II

Following the controversial draw with Hopkins in December 2010, Hopkins expressed his frustration. Hopkins, who had refused to fight outside of the United States since 1994, felt there was a judging bias based on the fight being held in Quebec, Canada, as well as a discrimination of his age.

Hopkins later criticized Pascal's performance, claiming that Pascal took more damage during the fight and that he clinched frequently. However, when Hopkins was asked about a potential rematch, he replaced most definitely only to claim that he was "too dangerous for anybody" and then went on to complain that GYM promotions was dragging the fight out to make him older so that he would lose.

However, Pascal defended his performance, by noting his two knockdowns he scored early in the fight and defending the legitimacy of the judges. Pascal then expressed that he was unsatisfied with the decision and preferred to have won the fight rather than settle with a draw. When asked about a potential rematch he responded by saying: "If he wants a rematch, anytime."

The rematch with Bernard Hopkins was held on May 21, 2011 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, broadcast on HBO World Championship Boxing.

The bout began with both fighters feeling each other out for the first few rounds. However, in the third round, Hopkins began to find success with the right hand and shook the knees of Pascal. In the fourth round, both fighters exchanged power shots frantically with Hopkins looking slightly wobbled at the end of the round. Later on, before the seventh round began, Hopkins began doing push-ups in the ring. In the ninth round, Pascal's glove touched the mat after a cupping shot and was ruled a slip. This occurred again in the tenth. The fight concluded with the judges scoring the bout, 112-116, 114-115 and 113-115 in favor of Hopkins.

After many months under the radar, Pascal was slated to fight Tavoris Cloud for the IBF light-heavyweight title on August 11, 2012, but a hand injury forced him to pull out of the fight. Pascal finally returned to the ring on December 14, 2012 against Aleksy Kuziemski. He won the fight via wide unanimous decision, receiving the scores: 100-88, 98-88 and 98-90, from the fights' judges.

Pascal vs Bute

It was announced that Jean Pascal would be fighting Lucian Bute on May 25, 2013, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec for Bute's NABF light heavyweight title and the vacant WBC Diamond championship.^[15]

The fight was rescheduled for January 18, 2014 due to an injury that required surgery to remove bone fragments from Bute's left hand.^[16] Pascal ended up winning the fight by unanimous decision.^[17]

Pascal vs. Kovalev

Pascal faced Sergey Kovalev on March 14, 2015 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Kovalev began the fight off aggressively as usual and took control of the fight early on and eventually knocked Pascal down in the 4th round. Pascal began to fight back and landed some good punches on Kovalev in rounds 5 and 6, although Kovalev gained control of the fight again in the 7th round and began to hit Pascal with huge shots, wobbling him and in the 8th round the referee stopped the fight as he felt Pascal wasn't in the right state physically to be able to continue the fight.^[18]

A rematch against Kovalev has been confirmed by Mathieu Boulay and Jean Bedard for the 30th of January 2016 in Montreal at a location to be announced though it is most likely going to be held at the Bell Centre once again

Pascal vs. Kovalev II

On January 30, 2016, Pascal had a re-match with Kovalev, also held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, which was televised on HBO. In the first round, a jab by Kovalev appeared to knock Pascal down, but referee Michael Griffin ruled it a slip. Kovalev threw the majority of punches and dominated the first 3 rounds. Kovalev continued landing punches in the 4th round while Pascal retreated. HBO commentator Bernard Hopkins described Kovalev’s onslaught as “torture”. A right in the 5th from Kovalev staggered Pascal but he did not go down.^[19] Kovalev landed 31 punches to a single punch from Pascal in the 5th round.^[20] Pascal's coach, Hall of Fame member Freddie Roach nearly stopped the fight after the sixth round, and asked the referee to keep an eye on Pascal if he absorbed too much punishment in the seventh. After the 7th round, Roach wouldn't let his fighter continue, and Kovalev was given a TKO over Pascal. Over the 7 rounds, Kovalev landed 162 punches compared to only 30 for Pascal. ^[21]

Professional record

30 Wins (17 KOs), 4 Losses, 1 Draw, 1 No Contest
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Round, Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	30-4-1 1 NC	Sergey Kovalev	RTD	7 (12), 3:00	2016-01-30	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	For WBA (Super), IBF and WBO Light Heavyweight titles.
Win	30-3-1 1 NC	Yunieski Gonzalez	UD	10 (10)	2015-07-25	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss	29-3-1 1 NC	Sergey Kovalev	TKO	8 (12), 1:03	2015-03-14	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	For WBA (Super) , IBF and WBO light-heavyweight titles.
NC	29-2-1 1 NC	Roberto Bolonti	NC	2 (10)	2014-12-06	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	29-2-1	Lucian Bute	UD	12 (12)	2014-01-18	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won NABF light-heavyweight title. Won vacant WBC Diamond light-heavyweight title.
Win	28-2-1	George Blades	TKO	5 (10)	2013-09-28	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	27-2-1	Aleksy Kuziemski	UD	10 (10)	2012-12-14	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Loss	26-2-1	Bernard Hopkins	UD	12 (12)	2011-05-21	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Lost WBC/Lineal/The Ring light heavyweight titles. For vacant WBC Diamond light-heavyweight title.
Draw	26-1-1	Bernard Hopkins	SD	12 (12)	2010-12-18	Quebec City, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC/Lineal/The Ring light heavyweight titles. For vacant WBC Diamond light-heavyweight title.
Win	26–1	Chad Dawson	TD	11 (12)	2010-08-14	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC, & won vacant Lineal/The Ring light-heavyweight titles.
Win	25–1	Adrian Diaconu	UD	12 (12)	2009-12-11	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC light-heavyweight title.
Win	24–1	Silvio Branco	TKO	10 (12), 2:19	2009-09-25	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained WBC light-heavyweight title.
Win	23–1	Adrian Diaconu	UD	12 (12)	2009-06-19	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won WBC light-heavyweight title.
Win	22–1	Pablo Daniel Zamora Nievas	KO	5 (12), 0:42	2009-04-04	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental super-middleweight title.
Loss	21–1	Carl Froch	UD	12 (12)	2008-12-06	Nottingham, England, United Kingdom	For vacant WBC super-middleweight title.
Win	21–0	Omar Pittman	UD	10 (10)	2008-01-11	Hollywood, Florida, United States
Win	20–0	Brian Norman	UD	10 (10)	2007-12-07	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained NABO/NABF/NABA super-middleweight titles.
Win	19–0	Esteban Camou	KO	3 (10), 2:37	2007-10-06	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	18–0	Kingsley Ikeke	UD	12 (12)	2007-08-03	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained NABF super-middleweight title.
Win	17–0	Christian Cruz	TKO	10 (12), 2:00	2007-06-08	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained NABO, & won vacant NABF/NABA super-middleweight titles.
Win	16–0	Lafarrell Bunting	UD	12 (12)	2007-03-10	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Retained NABO super-middleweight title.
Win	15–0	Jermain Mackey	UD	12 (12)	2006-11-18	Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada	Won NABO super-middleweight title.
Win	14–0	Lucas Green Arias	TKO	6 (12), 3:00	2006-09-30	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won vacant WBC Latino super-middleweight title.
Win	13–0	Darnell Boone	UD	10 (10)	2006-06-23	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won vacant Trans America Boxing super-middleweight title.
Win	12–0	Melroy Corbin	TKO	5 (8), 2:37	2006-03-11	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	11–0	Eric Howard	TKO	2 (8), 2:30	2006-02-25	Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Win	10–0	Martin Desjardins	TKO	7 (10), 2:16	2005-12-10	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Won vacant QBC/Canadian super-middleweight titles.
Win	9–0	Gerardo Soria	TKO	4 (8), 2:36	2005-11-19	Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Win	8–0	James Crawford	TKO	3 (8), 1:47	2005-10-29	Gatineau, Quebec, Canada
Win	7–0	Jesse Sanders	KO	1 (6), 1:45	2005-10-15	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	6–0	Ricardo Kellman	TKO	2 (6), 2:50	2005-09-10	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	5–0	Homer Gibbins	TKO	2 (4), 1:45	2005-07-13	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	4–0	Donnie Pendelton	TKO	2 (4), 3:00	2005-06-18	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	3–0	Eddie O'Neal	UD	4	2005-03-03	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	2–0	Jesse Londo	KO	1 (4), 0:50	2005-02-12	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win	1–0	Justin Hahn	TKO	2 (4), 2:17	2005-02-03	Montreal, Quebec, Canada	Professional debut.

Titles

• WBC light heavyweight champion (June 19, 2009 – May 21, 2011)
  • Won title from Adrian Diaconu on June 19, 2009.
  • First defense was against Silvio Branco on September 25, 2009.
  • Second defense was against Adrian Diaconu on December 11, 2009.
  • Third defense was against Chad Dawson on August 14, 2010.
  • Fourth defense was against Bernard Hopkins on December 18, 2010.
  • Lost the title against Bernard Hopkins on May 21, 2011.
• IBO light heavyweight champion (August 14, 2010 – May 21, 2011)
  • Won title from Chad Dawson on August 14, 2010.
  • First defense was against Bernard Hopkins on December 18, 2010.
  • Lost the title against Bernard Hopkins on May 21, 2011.
• Ring Magazine light heavyweight champion (August 14, 2010 – May 21, 2011)
  • Won the vacant title over Chad Dawson on August 14, 2010.
  • First defense was against Bernard Hopkins on December 18, 2010.
  • Lost the title against Bernard Hopkins on May 21, 2011.
• WBO Inter-Continental Super Middleweight Champion (2009)
• NABO, NABA, NABF Super Middleweight Champion (2006–2008)
• WBC Latino Super Middleweight Champion (2006–2007)
• Trans-American Boxing Super Middleweight Champion (2005–2007)
• Canadian and Quebec Super Middleweight Champion (2005–2006)
• Bronze medallist at the 2003 Pan American Games
• Gold medallist at the 2002 Commonwealth Games
• Boxer of the Year in Canada (2001–2003)

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Jean Pascal from BoxRec