By Thomas Hauser

A champion shouldn’t retain his title when he wins three of twelve rounds in a title fight.  But that’s the gift that two judges bestowed upon Jean Pascal in Quebec City on Saturday night.

Watching a fight on television is different from being there.  I viewed Pascal-Hopkins from the comfort of my living room.  One presumes that the judges had a better view of the action than I did.  That said; I think Bernard won the fight.

Pascal scored flash knockdowns in the first and third rounds.  Take away those knockdowns, and Hopkins would have won both of those rounds on my scorecard.  Rounds ten and twelve were close from where I sat.  Other than that, I thought that Bernard clearly won every round.

Hopkins fought more aggressively than expected. Pascal attacks when his opponent isn’t attacking.  Bernard went into the fight knowing that constant pressure was the key to keeping Jean from launching his own lunging assault.  Hopkins was the aggressor throughout the night, raking hooks to the body augmented by occasional overhand rights.  By the middle rounds, the fight had the look of Bernard’s 2006 beatdown of Antonio Tarver.

People talk about Pascal having a “granite” chin (which is overstating the case).  He certainly doesn’t have a granite body.  By round seven, Jean was a gun-shy, safety-first fighter.  He was more competitive in rounds ten and twelve.  Giving Pascal both of those rounds plus an extra point for each knockdown would have left him with a 114-112 deficit.  I had it 115-111 for Hopkins.

Judge Steve Morrow scored the fight 114-112 for Bernard.  Claude Paquette and Daniel Van de Wiele had it even.  That’s strange scoring, given the fact that Hopkins had a 171-105 edge in punches landed and appeared to land the more damaging blows.

Prior to fighting Pascal, Hopkins was asked how he felt about fighting in Jean’s home province of Quebec.

“I'd rather be fighting in Canada than Ecuador,” Bernard answered.

That was a reference to 1994, the last time that Hopkins journeyed outside the United States, when he fought to a draw against Segundo Mercado in Quito.

Next time, Bernard might rather fight in Ecuador.

Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at thauser@rcn.com. His most recent book (“Waiting For Carver Boyd”) was published by JR Books and can be purchased at http://www.amazon.co.uk/ or http://www.abebooks.com.
Hauser says that Waiting for Carver Boyd is “the best pure boxing writing I’ve ever done.”