Pascal: Kovalev Didn't Beat Same Hopkins I Fought
Jan 15, 2015 • 9:42 AM ET
By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Jean Pascal was impressed with how easily Sergey Kovalev beat Bernard Hopkins on Nov. 8 in Atlantic City
The former WBC light heavyweight champion still can’t help but think the Kovalev-Hopkins fight would’ve unfolded differently had Kovalev boxed a younger Hopkins, who’ll turn 50 on Thursday.
“That was a great fight for him, but the Bernard that he faced on Nov. 8 was not the same Bernard that I faced four years ago,” Pascal said Wednesday following a news conference at Le Parker Meridien to promote Pascal’s March 14 fight against Kovalev in Montreal. “You cannot try to win a fight when you throw less than 200 punches. It definitely would’ve been different [four years ago]. Bernard had more energy when he fought me. Bernard only threw 195 punches when he fought [Kovalev]. You can’t win a fight that way.”
Pascal referred to CompuBox crediting Hopkins with just 195 attempted punches, 16.3 per round, during his surprisingly one-sided, unanimous-decision defeat to Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs) two months ago. Hopkins was 45 when he settled for a majority draw with Pascal four years ago in Quebec City. At 46, Hopkins (55-7-2, 32 KOs, 2 NC) became the oldest boxer ever to win a recognized world title when he topped Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KOs, 1 NC) in their May 2011 rematch in Montreal.
Even though Hopkins was 49, 18 years older than Kovalev, when they fought, Pascal “was surprised because it’s really hard to out-box Bernard Hopkins. He did it well. I don’t know if Bernard showed his age, and like I said, I don’t want to take away from Kovalev because he did what he had to do to win the fight. That’s why I’m facing him right now.”
HBO will televise the 12-round bout between Pascal, of Laval, Quebec, and Russia’s Kovalev for Kovalev’s IBF, WBA and WBO light heavyweight titles from Bell Centre. Heavyweights Steve Cunningham (28-6, 13 KOs), of Philadelphia, and Ukraine’s Vyacheslav Glazkov (19-0-1, 12 KOs) are set to meet in a 12-round IBF elimination match that’ll open HBO’s broadcast.
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
