In 2009, Jean-Pascal was able to win the WBO super middleweight title and this was a turning point in his career. Immediately after that, the fighter decided to move to the next division and began to compete in the light heavyweight division. It was the right choice because from this moment begins a series of legendary matches that will glorify the name of Pascal around the world. Let’s take a look at them!
Most Significant Light Heavyweight Fights
The first fight in the new role brought Pascal not only fame but also the champion title. In June 2019, he scored a unanimous victory over Adrian Deacon in Montreal. After that, the fighter faced huge competition for this belt. And during the year he defended his position twice. Including against the same Adrian Deacon, who decided to take revenge.
Despite two stunning victories, Pascal, unfortunately, was severely injured. This was evident even during the battle. Commentators constantly noticed that the athlete was underworking with his right hand. And as it turned out, he really had problems with his shoulder. A few days later, an operation was performed, as a result of which a bone fragment was removed from the arm. Fortunately, this was not a big problem, and soon the athlete returned to his usual rhythm of work!
In the summer of 2010, another important event took place. The boxer began cooperation with the promoter, who promised Pascal two and a half million dollars for two subsequent matches. His opponents were Chad Dawson and Bernard Hopkins.
At the same time, the title defence against Dawson also ended in an accident. After a bad fall, Pascal’s opponent began to bleed heavily over his eye, causing the match to be stopped. However, as the judges’ notes showed, the boxer dominated his opponent, so he was awarded the victory. But the fight against Hopkins became scandalous in the light heavyweight division and raised a lot of noise.
The Scandalous Fight between Pascal and Hopkins
Like Dawson, Hopkins was hoping to take the championship belt and left for Quebec to fight the reigning leader. There was a lot of excitement around the fight, for example, exactly two days after the start of ticket sales, more than fifteen thousand seats were sold, which is a staggering figure!
And this light heavyweight division fight itself started quite well for Pascal, already in the first three rounds, he managed to make two knockdowns, which unsettled his experienced opponent. But as it turned out later, Hopkins was not going to give up and in the end, the match ended in a draw by decision of the judges. But if Pascal was happy with this outcome, and even got to the fourteenth place of the best boxers in the world, then Hopkins was going to appeal the decision of the judges.
After the match, a real trial began, in which Hopkins accused the judges of bias, and also pointed to an illegal blow to the back of the head from Pascal. He got his way and a year later a rematch was held. Which was no less complex and interesting than the first. But unfortunately for our hero, it ended unsuccessfully.
After that, Pascal was absent from the media space for many months, but after returning, the fighter did not show himself as well as before, and out of five fights he had already lost three. The media even talked about ending his career, but Pascal decided to move up to heavyweight fights and try his luck there.
The Further Boxing Career
Further, Pascal was waiting for no less interesting and difficult tests, which we will talk about in the next blog. Share this article with your friends and good luck!