Montreal - Headlining the second edition of the InterBox Prestige galas - former World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (31-4-1, 18 KOs) battered overmatched Ricardo Marcelo Ramallo (21-11-1, 15 KOs) for a third round stoppage at Amphithéâtre Cogeco in Trois-Rivières.

Pascal, 34 years old, was last in the ring back in January, when he was battered over seven rounds in his rematch with Sergey Kovalev. Pascal is still very eager to fight and the desire to be champion again is driving him forward. He wants to fight at least three times in 2017.

Pascal had no issues with Ramallo, and showcased the clear advantages in speed, skill and power. He sent Ramallo down three times before the fight was finally waved off in the third.

“It’s not for my ego. It’s not for the money. I love boxing and I love my fans,” Pascal said to the Montreal Gazette. “When I went for groceries people were asking me, ‘when are you coming back?’ Boxing’s a passion for me. Honestly, I’m still aiming for the peak of the mountain. To be back on top and to be world champion for the third time. My goal is to rebuild myself, try to become world champion.”

Canadian trainer Stephan Larouche, who took over for Freddie Roach, says he is going to take things very slow with Pascal to rebuild him properly.

“He has experience and has to use it to his advantage,” Larouche said. “He has to fight with his experience, his knowledge, with his strengths. Jean’s very emotional in the ring. He wants to dominate all the time. When it doesn’t go his way, sometimes he gets a little bit upset. He has good timing, eyes and reflexes. But he’s kind of unpredictable.

“One step at a time. He hasn’t fought for 11 months. We’re going back to the fundamentals. Get some wins and then we’ll make some plans. I think he has the potential but, you’ve seen over the weekend how strong it is. The calibre’s pretty high in the light-heavyweight division.”