Kovalev-Pascal Rematch Scenario Explained By Bedard

By Steve Kim

It was announced over the weekend that a rematch between Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal would have a reprisal of their March match-up that saw 'the Krusher' stop Pascal in eight rounds at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

While this was an entertaining affair, it was a one-sided contest and most observers and fans feel a bit letdown with this sequel which is scheduled for January 30th for HBO.

But there was a scenario that was kicked around that would've had Pascal facing Adonis Stevenson in an all-Quebec showdown with the winner to face Kovalev later in 2016.

"That was our main goal, even Pascal phoned Stevenson directly to try to make it happen because it was the fight people wanted to see. I think it was a great plan because the winner could fight Kovalev," confirmed the head of Interbox, Jean Bedard, which handles Pascal.

"That was our plan but at the end. I don't kow how it works, I don't know who's making the decisions. Yvon Michel (of GYM, which promotes Stevenson) was on board with that one but I don't know if it was Adonis Stevenson or his manager (Al Haymon).

"But we said we had to have an answer by this weekend because if we're not going in that direction, we'll go directly to Kovalev, which we'll do because if we want to do a fight in January we have to organize it. So that was our plan and it's funny because I heard that the WBC sent a letter today (Monday) to make another purse bid. So that's funny, I don't know how the WBC works but it's very special."

Kovalev-Pascal 2 will most likely take place again at the Bell Centre.

"We'll go forward, we'll try to do the best event we can with the rematch and the undercards. But we're on board with HBO, we're on board with Kovalev and Pascal. But our main goal was to make Stevenson and Pascal and the winner goes to Kovalev."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.