By Jake Donovan
It was clear from the moment Jean Pascal grabbed the mic during Wednesday's press conference that trouble would soon follow. The former World light heavyweight champ stirred the pot nearly two months when his January 30 HBO-televised rematch with Sergey Kovalev was formally announced.
That was only the beginning, as he was in rare form for the most recent session. The Haitian-Canadian boxer has recently accused Kovalev of being a racist - citing past verbal and visual examples in efforts to validate his claims - but this time took it to another level. A rant that began with mocking the unbeaten and unified light heavyweight titlist ended in a screaming match with Kovalev's trainer, John David Jackson - a former two-division champ from the 1990s who is of African-American descent and mocked by Pascal to "stand up and represent Black people."
The normally mild-mannered Jackson launched a profanity-laced tirade at Pascal after growing tired of his comments and constantly being interrupted by the 33-year old former champ, with the two having to be restrained after nearly coming to blows on stage. At one point, Kovalev stood up to defend his trainer, requesting to Pascal that they can just as easily take it outside to settle up their differences.
As cooler heads prevailed, Kovalev and his team eventually took the high road in efforts to end the session with some semblance of dignity.
"Pascal is talking like this because he is scared," suggested Egis Klimas, Kovalev's longtime manager.
His comment came in reference to their first fight, in which Kovalev became to first to score a stoppage win over Pascal in winning their HBO-televised headliner by 8th round technical knockout last March at Bell Centre in Montreal, which also hosts Saturday's rematch.
The sequel has been a bit of a hard sell, seen merely as means to keep Kovalev active while he prepares for a fall showdown with unbeaten former super middleweight champion Andre Ward. This weekend's marquee players both took interim bouts on the same HBO-televised card last July for their forthcoming rematch, though producing vastly different results. Kovalev tore through overmatched mandatory challenger Nadjib Mohammedi inside of three rounds, while Pascal was considered by many to have been fortunate in being given a decision win over previously unbeaten Yunieski Gonzalez in their 10-round supporting bout.
Needless to say, it wasn't a banner year for Pascal, who hasn't at all pared down the trash talk hurled towards his opponent.
"He learned from the first fight how hard Sergey can punch," Klimas insisted. "He knows what's coming in the rematch. This is the scared talking, not Pascal."
As for Kovalev (28-0-1, 25KOs), his favorite part of any fight promotion is the moments spent from bell to bell. His least favorite - everything leading up to that point, which has him anxious for this weekend's rematch, if only to silence his old rival once and for all.
"I'm very glad to be here and for this fight again. I will be happy once again on Saturday," Kovalev stated. "(Pascal) has a lot to say today. I hope he brings some (of it) to the ring and comes to fight."
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
