By Victor Salazar
Brooklyn, New York - On January 30th, light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev will once again travel to Canada to defend his WBO/WBA/IBF world titles in a rematch against local superstar Jean Pascal.
Kovalev stopped Pascal in a one sided but entertaining fight back March. Not many see a reason for a rematch and would prefer Kovalev to fight Pascal’s countrymen Adonis Stevenson, who holds the WBC title. Boxing politics have stopped the fight from happening and Kovalev’s trainer, John David Jackson, hopes the fight doesn’t go the Mayweather-Pacquiao route.
“It’s the two best guys in the division,” Jackson said on Kovalev-Stevenson. “They have to make it happen for the fans, we don’t want it to be like Pacquiao Mayweather and wait too long. Let’s have the best guys at 175 fight bottom line.”
Though many didn’t see the need a reason for a Kovalev-Pascal fight, Jackson says Kovalev has a vested interest in this rematch as Kovalev wants to make Pascal pay for his pre-fight trash talk.
“Kovalev wants to knock him out cold this time that’s what he told me,” Jackson said. “The only thing Pascal can do is find a soft spot on the canvas and lay down.”
Pascal is training under Hall of Famer Freddie Roach for this bout. Jackson feels Pascal is a shot product who took too much damage in his recent fights and strongly believes Roach’s tutelage won’t be a factor.
“You watch the fight with the Cuban kid Gonzalez, [Pascal] was shot. The Kovalev fight took a lot out of him. There’s nothing left. It’s a money fight for Pascal. Freddie can’t help him.”
