Pascal, Kovalev Agree To 50K Wager on Knockout

By Ryan Burton

This past Saturday a media gathering was assembled in Los Angeles for the January 30th Sergey Kovalev-Jean Pascal rematch that will be aired on HBO.

Former champion Jean Pascal is very confident that he will be able to extract revenge in the sequel.  At the very least he believes that he will fare better than he did in the first fight and proposed a bet to the Russian.

"Kovalev said, I think at the press conference, that he is going to finish the fight earlier than he did the first fight.  So he is saying he is going to knock me out before the 8th round so I would like to challenge Kovalev that if he can knock me out before the 8th round to make a bet of like $50k to a charitable foundation. If he doesn't knock me out before the 8th he will give $50k to my foundation and if he knocks me out before the 8th I will make a $50k donation to his foundation.  That is a good challenge.  He likes to talk so he needs to put his money where his mouth is.  If he can knock me out before the 8th 50k for his good cause and if he can't then for my cause," said Pascal.

The Montreal resident is very popular in his hometown and has fought for many lucrative paydays in his career.  He clarified his bet proposition to BoxingScene.com afterward saying that if the $50,000 was too steep for Kovalev, that he was willing to cut it in half.

"If $50k is too much for you I will drop it to $25k so put your money where your mouth is.  I am not the one who talks too much you are," Pascal stated.

I mentioned that it sounded like a win-win proposition because either way a charity would benefit.

"Exactly, I don't need his money.  I already have have more than he does," Pascal told BoxingScene.com.

To his credit, Kovalev accepted the bet, tweeting to Pascal, "@jeanpascalchamp your generous offer is accepted. Train hard for this- you'll need it. #REMATCH #KovalevPascal."

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