By Mark Vester

At the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (24-1, 16KOs) retained his title with a ten round stoppage over mandatory Silvio Branco (59-10-2). For Pascal, it was the first defense of the title he won from Adrian Diaconu in June.

Pascal was in control the whole way. He got off in the early rounds, cutting Branco near the right eye in the third. Branco was dropped to a knee and a bit shaken up at the end of the fourth. There was a bit of a delayed reaction with the knee. During the seventh, Pascal once again sent Branco down again with a good flurry of punches near the end of the round. In the tenth, Pascal dropped Branco for the third time with a hard right to the side of the head. The veteran was able to beat the count but it wasn't long before he was sent back down for the fourth time after a series of hard shots. Branco's corner threw in the towel to stop the one-sided beating.

Pascal, who had the name of Arturo Gatti on the back of his trunks, will now face Diaconu in a December rematch.

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