Bernard Hopkins Vs. Jean Pascal: 10 Things You Need To Know about the Fight
The 175 lb light-heavyweight division is a pretty hot division. Chad Dawson has made a big name for himself there. Tavoris Cloud is still undefeated and making a name for himself. Bernard Hopkins is old but unpredictable and still a game opponent. Last but not least comes Jean Pascal, who has been rising from the ashes like a phoenix ready to burn another victim in the ring who is foolish enough to get caught in his flame.
Hopkins and Pascal will clash on December 18, 2010. Pascal was named the 175 lb Ring Magazine champion after defeating Chad Dawson, while Bernard Hopkins is coming off an ugly but still successful victory over Roy Jones Jr. The following 10 slides will inform you of all you need to know about these two individuals before seeing the fight this Saturday on Showtime.
1. Bernard Hopkins Is Old
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In the world of boxing, once you pass the age of 34 or 35, you're officially a senior citizen. Take Chad Dawson's previous two opponents before Jean Pascal for example: Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver. Both were over forty years old at the time.
When he won, Dawson was celebrated for his skills, but the victories were put in question by the fact that his opponents have lost the speed and built bodies of their past. They slowed considerably in movement, allowing Dawson to take advantage of his own youthful blaze of speed.
Experience is the only weapon an older fighter like Tarver has left. Bernard Hopkins is 46 years old—that's ancient in boxing. If Hopkins can pull this off, he will be legendary. He was legendary before, but the age difference will give his career a George Foreman-like credibility if he comes back to knock Pascal out. Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer to become the oldest heavyweight champion at age 45. Could Hopkins do the same?
2. Jean Pascal Has Only Lost Once
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Jean Pascal has only lost to Carl Froch. Froch's currently a participant in the Showtime Super Six Boxing Classic. That tournament has Froch fighting at 168 lbs. Pascal apparently will have to win on December 18 against Hopkins in order to keep his momentum building until he can get Froch to rematch him.
The Froch loss was in Froch's hometown in England. That meant Froch had the advantage when the fight went to the judges.
If Froch loses his next match—which is possible considering the tough competition in the Super Six tournament he's in—he's stated he'll move up to 175 lbs. He's already lost once in the tournament.
If Froch moves up to Pascal's weight division and Pascal wins against Hopkins, Pascal will be in a better position to demand a rematch. Pascal being the champ and collecting a big win over Dawson and Hopkins could find Pascal in a new-found position of leverage and able to lobby for the match to be held in his own hometown of Quebec, Canada.
3. Bernard Hopkins Beat Roy Jones Jr In The Worst Fight of The Year
3 of 10Picture this:
Two legends, both boxing royalty.
Now, don't picture them young and in their prime at maybe 27, 30 or 33.
Picture them fighting at 45 and 41, the ages of Hopkins and Jones respectively.
Jones got pummeled, sure, but Hopkins looked just as old in that fight.
For anyone arguing that Hopkins should retire, this fight is your evidence.
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4. Jean Pascal Is Smaller But That Shouldn't Be a Problem
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Jean Pascal stands at 5'11" with a 72 inch reach.
Bernard Hopkins stands at 6'1" with a 75 inch reach.
Pascal did beat that opponent, so Pascal should be competitive despite the size disadvantage.
The size difference may still provide a slight change in how this fight plays out so it's worth mentioning.
5. Hopkins Has an Unpredictable Style
5 of 10Bernard Hopkins is known as an awkward defensive fighter. He's known to be a dirty fighter. Headbutts, low blows, hits behind the back and head—you name it, Hopkins has probably done it.
Hopkins also has knockout power which was on display when he fought Oscar De La Hoya in 2003. Oscar suffered the first knockout loss of his career. If Pascal doesn't watch himself, he may end up kneeling to the ground unable to get up for the 10 count like Oscar.
6. Jean Pascal Has The Ring Championship At 175 Pounds
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Ring Magazine is the Bible of boxing, meaning they're really old and have been writing about boxing for a long time. Being around so long, they realized something very quickly...THIS SPORT HAS TOO MANY BELTS!
Ring Magazine decided to create their own belt and allow only the top two ranked fighters be able to fight for it. If the best don't fight for it, nobody gets it. The belt will just become vacant until the two best in that weight division fight each other.
With all that said, Pascal has the Ring Championship at the 175 lb division. He won it from Chad Dawson, who is now the No. 1 rated fighter. This means that Hopkins, who is rated No. 5, will not get that championship even if he wins.
Hopkins improves his rank with a victory but won't capture the belt until he's at least ranked No. 3. Beating Pascal will definitely rank Hopkins at least that high.
7. Bernard Hopkins Had The Ring Champioship Once and Wants It Back
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June 10, 2006, Hopkins met Antonio Tarver in the ring to clash for the Light-Heavyweight (175 lb) Ring Championship. The younger Antonio Tarver was favored over the 41-year-old Hopkins at the time. Little did he know what Hopkins could still do.
Hopkins won by unanimous decision. The official scores were 118-109 for Hopkins on all three judges' scorecards. Hopkins defended his belt until he lost the title almost two years later to the now retried champ Joe Calzaghe.
The Ring Championship since then has been vacated, won and lost by great fighters. Hopkins plans to rejoin that tradition with a victory over Pascal, and Pascal wishes to follow the tradition of elite champions by beating legendary champion Bernard Hopkins.
8. The Fight Will Be In Canada, Jean Pascal's Home Country
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Being born and raised in Canada and having fought 25 of his 27 fights in the country gives Pascal the advantage, as the fight will be held in Quebec, Canada. Hopkins will have to beat Pascal amazingly to avoid hometown pride that judges may have for their Canadian pugilist.
A knockout would probably be preferred considering the type of scoring decisions judges make these days. Look at Devon Alexander vs. Andriy Kotelnik. Alexander was getting beat and still got the decision victory. The fight taking place in Alexander's hometown of Saint Louis likely had something to do with that.
Bernard better focus on an Oscar De La Hoya-sized knockout like he performed back in the day. If not, he may be the victim of another hometown gift decision.
9. Bernard Hopkins Has Yet To KO Anyone at Light-Heavyweight
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Bernard Hopkins has 51 wins, with 32 of them coming by knockout. Since moving up to light-heavyweight, he's fought six times and lost once. All of the fights were won by unanimous decision. That may play a role in whether Pascal will taste the canvas or not.
10. Jean Pascal Grew Up Watching Bernard Hopkins Fight
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In a recent interview with Fanhouse, Jean Pascal admitted to watching Bernard Hopkins fights at 15 years old. This could work against the young fighter or for him. Pascal could idolize Hopkins too much to fight effectively against an old hero. Another way for him to look at this is to be more encouraged to beat Hopkins to fulfill a teenage dream of fighting Hopkins for a world title some day.
Well, that day from that teenage dream is December 18 2010 in Quebec, Canada on Showtime. Will that boyhood dream become a nightmare? Tune in this Saturday on Showtime at 10pm ET/PT to find out.
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