By Rick Reeno
Former champion Bernard Hopkins is giving Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17KOs) a good shot at pulling off the upset on March 14th, when he challenges WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (26-0-1, 23KOs) at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.
Hopkins fought Pascal to a controversial twelve round draw in 2010 and then won a twelve round decision in their 2011 rematch. Last November, Hopkins was dominated over twelve rounds by Kovalev.
Pascal is a significant underdog against Kovalev - but styles make fights, says Hopkins.
"Don't sleep on Pascal, because he can beat [Kovalev]. Don't sleep on him. He has a very unorthodox style. He is very wiry with his punches. He is very unpredictable with the way he throws punches," Hopkins explained to BoxingScene.com.
"He's not traditional with a one-two-three jab [and] right hand. He's all over the place and it makes him dangerous because you don't see those punches coming. He learned a lot from me to be able to advance himself. When I seen his last two fights, I said 'he ain't fighting the same way when he fought me.'"