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WBC ordered Pascal-Sillakh bout not likely
By Dave Spencer / ********* Canada
With the ordered rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson, former WBC light-heavyweight Jean Pascal finds himself as the odd man out in a triangle that has seen all three fighters wearing the green belt at one time or another. With Pascal (26-2-1 16KO) forced to take a backseat, the #3 ranked fighter in the division was ordered to face off against #2 ranked Ismayl Sillakh (17-0 14KO) for spot of mandatory challenger within the division by the WBC. Don’t look for the fight to happen anytime soon though as Pascal’s promoter will continue exploring more viable and lucrative options.
“It’s always a an honour to be selected for a title eliminator, it’s a good option for Jean,” said Michel before adding “The priority for Jean is to fight for the world championship and I’m not sure he really needs this because of his notoriety, the relationship we have with HBO, our negotiations that we already have ongoing for a potential championship fight, so I’m not sure we really need that (fight with Sillakh). If after free negotiations we realize that the best option is to fight Sillakh, then we will do it. It’s a difficult fight to sell.
“We would have fought Sillakh before; we were in negotiations with his promoter Square Ring for a comeback fight we wanted to make for Jean but unfortunately HBO told us then that Sillakh was not an HBO fighter. If we look at Sillakh’s record, he never fought or beat anybody in the top 20 in the world. If you look at Jean Pascal’s resume, his last eight opponents are still world ranked in top ten or world champions. For sure the notoriety of both fighters are different. If we realize that this is our best option to get to a world championship, then we will do it.”
Michel looks to be banking that the ordered rematch between Hopkins and Dawson is not yet etched in stone. “The wording makes an exception if both parties come to an agreement and allows Hopkins to make a voluntary defense first,” said Michel. “We’ll see what that means but if they do fight there is an understanding with Gary Shaw and Dawson that after Hopkins, he wants to fight Jean Pascal. So if he beats Hopkins, then we might fight against him directly. Before making a decision with Jean, we have to see if and when a fight between those happens and make our decision accordingly.”
Figure on Pascal possibly coming back in March and the challenging for a title shot in late spring or early summer according to the promoter figuring that the mandatory route might take up to two years with and ordered rematch because potentially surrounded by two optional defenses. “We hope Sillakh continues to fight and improves his resume in that time so we can somehow make it a viable fight for the future,” said Michel.
http://www.*********.com/Boxing/wbc-...-likely-104697
By Dave Spencer / ********* Canada
With the ordered rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson, former WBC light-heavyweight Jean Pascal finds himself as the odd man out in a triangle that has seen all three fighters wearing the green belt at one time or another. With Pascal (26-2-1 16KO) forced to take a backseat, the #3 ranked fighter in the division was ordered to face off against #2 ranked Ismayl Sillakh (17-0 14KO) for spot of mandatory challenger within the division by the WBC. Don’t look for the fight to happen anytime soon though as Pascal’s promoter will continue exploring more viable and lucrative options.
“It’s always a an honour to be selected for a title eliminator, it’s a good option for Jean,” said Michel before adding “The priority for Jean is to fight for the world championship and I’m not sure he really needs this because of his notoriety, the relationship we have with HBO, our negotiations that we already have ongoing for a potential championship fight, so I’m not sure we really need that (fight with Sillakh). If after free negotiations we realize that the best option is to fight Sillakh, then we will do it. It’s a difficult fight to sell.
“We would have fought Sillakh before; we were in negotiations with his promoter Square Ring for a comeback fight we wanted to make for Jean but unfortunately HBO told us then that Sillakh was not an HBO fighter. If we look at Sillakh’s record, he never fought or beat anybody in the top 20 in the world. If you look at Jean Pascal’s resume, his last eight opponents are still world ranked in top ten or world champions. For sure the notoriety of both fighters are different. If we realize that this is our best option to get to a world championship, then we will do it.”
Michel looks to be banking that the ordered rematch between Hopkins and Dawson is not yet etched in stone. “The wording makes an exception if both parties come to an agreement and allows Hopkins to make a voluntary defense first,” said Michel. “We’ll see what that means but if they do fight there is an understanding with Gary Shaw and Dawson that after Hopkins, he wants to fight Jean Pascal. So if he beats Hopkins, then we might fight against him directly. Before making a decision with Jean, we have to see if and when a fight between those happens and make our decision accordingly.”
Figure on Pascal possibly coming back in March and the challenging for a title shot in late spring or early summer according to the promoter figuring that the mandatory route might take up to two years with and ordered rematch because potentially surrounded by two optional defenses. “We hope Sillakh continues to fight and improves his resume in that time so we can somehow make it a viable fight for the future,” said Michel.
http://www.*********.com/Boxing/wbc-...-likely-104697
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