Former light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (29 – 2 – 1) took some time for an interview with HustleBoss.com in which he discussed his thoughts on upcoming opponent, light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (26 – 0) and what he believes he will need to do to come out victorious.
Pascal and Kovalev have been on a collision course as both continued to dispatch all comers within the division over the past couple years. Pascal’s only blemish since a 2011 loss to legend Bernard Hopkins has been his December fight with Canada’s Roberto Bolonti. That fight ended in a no-contest after Pascal landed a short right while coming out of a clinch. Depending on which story you choose to believe, Bolonti was either unable to get up or told to stay down by his promoter.
Kovalev had his big coming out party last November in which he dominated Bernard Hopkins and took a few more light heavyweight belts (IBF and WBA “Super”) home with him. After seeing Kovalev easily handle a guy that Pascal has struggled with in the past, how does he expect to beat Kovalev when they meet on March 14th?
Pascal’s strategy, “Kovalev is a great fighter; that is why he’s got three belts. That’s why he got named fighter of the year… 2014 fighter of the year but unfortunately for him we are in 2015. The way I am going to beat Kovalev is simple; I’m gonna box him.”
It’s interesting that Pascal believes that he will be able to outbox the man that outboxed Bernard Hopkins. Although Hopkins is a technician that provided Pascal with all kinds of problems a few years ago, yet Kovalev was able to outbox him easily. It is strange that even now, Sergey still has something to prove as a technician.
HustleBoss.com posed an important follow-up question about whether there is anything about Kovalev that concerns Pascal. The answer was a bit of pseudo-praise, of the backhanded variety:
“There is a lot of things that I am concerned about because he is doing everything… Everything is good. He is not doing everything great; he’s not doing something very great, but he is doing everything well. So I’m going to have a lot to do to win this fight. He is very good with his distance, he got good speed, great power punching… you know me, I like a challenge.”
Sergey Kovalev will put a few light heavyweight titles on the line against Jean Pascal in the in Montreal on March 14th, 2015. With a home-ring advantage and confidence in his superior boxing skills, it will be interesting if it makes a difference against the guy everyone calls “Krusher”.
