PASCAL-KOVALEV CASINO CLASH
Laval fighter targets Russian’s titles
Jean Pascal appeared calm and relaxed at Friday afternoon’s weighin, his stomach flat and ripped. He might well be in the best shape of his life. As for light-heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev? He gave the finger to some fans who heckled him at the Montreal Casino.
It will be up to the dime-store psychologists and so-called boxing experts to make their own interpretations of what this all meant. Pascal’s handlers suggested Kovalev is about to implode. Kovalev’s people couldn’t care less, of course.
“Emotion is very good. It can be positive, but if you don’t control your emotions, it can bring you to the dark side and you can be out of control. It’s very dangerous,” said Marc Ramsay, Pascal’s longtime trainer. “Right now, I like the way Jean is — aggressive, but under control.
“You have that feeling you did everything you had to. We really tried to control every little detail from a tactical, technical, conditioning and psychological aspect.”
Kovalev, undefeated in 27 fights (26-0-1, 23 knockouts), puts his World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization titles on the line Saturday night at the Bell Centre in a scheduled 12-round main event against Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs).
The bout will be televised in the U.S. by HBO and, while it appears to have generated considerable interest south of the border, only about 12,000 tickets have been sold at the home of the Canadiens. That would generate a live gate of approximately $1.2-million.
Other than the Kovalev finger, Pascal made sure there would be no histrionics, immediately leaving the stage rather than posing for the traditional post weigh-in photo opportunity, which usually results in the perfunctory fingerpointing and shoving match. Or worse. Both Pascal and Ramsay agreed he should depart, quickly, rather than risk a potential hand injury.
Pascal, of Laval, is a former World Boxing Council 175-pound champion who is surrounded by a deep and resourceful team. Ramsay will be joined in the corner by Montreal trainer Russ Anber, along with the incomparable Roy Jones, a former multi-world champ in several weight categories. Pascal even works with a sports psychologist, Rob Schinke, who has spent 16 years with the fighter.
“It’s a process — and we’re going to get it right, as we did for the Bute fight, the Dawson fight and the Diaconu fight. We’ll nail it and get it right,” Schinke said earlier this week, obviously overlooking Pascal’s two bouts against Bernard Hopkins, the latter of which resulted in Pascal losing his title.
“The second part of the equation is understanding the opponent in front of you. Not just watching tapes. It’s understanding the psychology of the team we’re facing. The athlete, his history, his patterns. The coach we’re facing, his history and patterns.”
Jones also said he saw a fighter, in Kovalev, potentially a moment away from coming unnerved on Friday. He said Kovalev is feeling the pressure of living up to his reputation of knocking people out, and believes it speaks volumes that he was unable to last November, against Hopkins.
“That means a whole lot to me. Maybe he’s not the (puncher) he’s supposed to be. Who knows? Being as devastating and dominating as he has been, he should have finished Hopkins,” Jones claimed. “To me, the fans are starting to aggravate him some. The tension’s starting to build on him and get on his nerves. He has become aggravated.
“It could make him fight out of character. If he’s out of character, he’s fighting more to Jean’s character. I know he wants to box and he’s a crusher, but if we can get him angry on top of that, it makes it better.”
Pascal will rely on his speed and athleticism against Kovalev. Pascal is unconventional, unpredictable and throws punches from various angles — hardly a smooth and technically sound boxer. Kovalev, of course, will lean heavily on his power. But he believes he displayed his boxing ability against Hopkins, who lost every round on all three judges’ scorecards and appeared to be in survival mode.
“Sergey’s boxing ability and his boxing smarts will make the difference,” said his trainer, John David Jackson. “Sergey will be able to cut off the ring and make Pascal fight. Pascal wants to run and dictate the pace from long distance. But he has to come back to get within distance to throw a punch. I just think Sergey’s overall ring generalship will be the difference.
“He’s ready to fight and he just wants to fight. He’s tired of doing interviews, answering the same questions. He’s ready to fight.”
Ramsay believes Pascal will prove too smart and elusive. He believes Kovalev requires another option, other than his devastating punch, to triumph.
“We know we’re going to hell (Saturday). We’re ready for it. Let’s see if (Kovalev’s) ready,” Ramsay said. “We’re prepared for the best Kovalev we ever saw.”
The referee will be Luis Pabon. Scoring the fight will be judges Cesar Ramos (Puerto Rico), Zoltan Enyedi (Hungary) and Richard Davies (U.K.).