Pascal: This is Rocky 4, Kovalev’s Already Killed a Foe

by David P. Greisman

Jean Pascal had already used this comparison before, in part, saying that his upcoming bout against light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev was reminiscent of Rocky 4.

He’s brought that up again — and taken it one step farther.

“I think it’s going to be like a remake of the movie. You have the dark African guy vs. the Russian. So you’ve got the east vs. the west. You’ve got Drago, who killed Apollo Creed in the ring. Sergey Kovalev did the same thing maybe a couple years ago,” Pascal said on a Feb. 24 media conference call.

Pascal is referencing Kovalev’s stoppage win over Roman Simakov in December 2011. Simakov died days later.

“So I am like a huge underdog like Rocky was in the movie,” Pascal said. “I think in this movie, I’m not going to be Apollo Creed, but I’m going to be the Black Balboa.”

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