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WBC 'won't order' Jean Pascal-Bernard Hopkins rematch
QUEBEC - If there eventually is a rematch between Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins, as everyone is now expecting, it will be the result of the boxers and their promoters coming to an agreement - not from the World Boxing Council issuing any threats or orders, its leader emphasized.
“I think it would be a great match again, a lot of money for the promoter. I don’t believe either boxer’s satisfied. If both want it, and all the promoters agree, why not?” WBC president Jose Sulaiman said. “But for me to raise a scandal, no. This was a great fight. All the world’s talking about it. Why destroy it with negative comments?”
Pascal retained his WBC light-heavyweight title with a 12-round controversial majority draw against Hopkins Saturday night at the Colisée Pepsi. Pascal scored two early knockdowns against Hopkins, but the former middleweight and light-heavyweight champion controlled the last half of the bout.
Hopkins’s promoter called the decision a travesty, said he was filing a protest with the WBC and suggested an immediate rematch would be ordered.
“This is the worst decision I’ve seen,” said Richard Schaefer, the chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions. “We’ll file a protest ... and see what other legal remedies we have, because this is wrong.
“I talked to Sulaiman. He feels, as well, this was highway robbery.”
Sulaiman said any discussions he conducted with Schaefer should have remained private, while intimating Schaefer had put words in his mouth. The WBC is comprised of governors who can vote for a rematch. But a majority is required before a rematch can occur.
“The WBC is not Jose Sulaiman,” he said. “I understand there were different opinions. This is boxing. I believe, for the clarity of everything, the best thing is a rematch. But the WBC won’t order a rematch.”
The problem, according to promoter Yvon Michel, is that Chad Dawson’s owed a rematch by Pascal, who scored an 11th-round technical decision against him last August; that bout ended on an accidental headbutt with Pascal leading on all three judges’ scorecards. Pascal and Dawson have signed contracts.
However, the rematch is conditional. A U.S. network, HBO or Showtime, must pay a licensing fee equal or better to what the promoter received last summer from HBO. Without that, Pascal and his promoter are under no obligation. And television likely now has more interest in Pascal against Hopkins than Pascal and Dawson.
“If Yvon Michel does that (supplanting Hopkins), they’re going to get stripped of their title,” Schaefer charged. “If necessary, we’ll use our vast financial resources to sue the WBC and the Canadian commission. I’m not going to stand here and take this.”
While Michel’s company is much smaller and doesn’t have the financial clout to battle Golden Boy Promotions, he said Schaefer’s threats were nothing more than bombastic fodder.
“I’m not going to panic,” he said. “To come out strong and say he’s going to sue, it’s blackmail. It’s not because they’re a big company they’re going to scare us.”
Schaefer and Hopkins said they have no interest in returning to Canada, although both are undoubtedly aware Montreal or Quebec are the only two sites the rematch would sell.
More than 16,000 spectators attended Saturday, although the card wasn’t sold out. Pascal earned a career-high purse of $1.5 million - $200,000 more than Hopkins.
“It was a close fight,” Michel said, “and it would have been a close call anywhere.”
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sport...#ixzz18cd7t72S
QUEBEC - If there eventually is a rematch between Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins, as everyone is now expecting, it will be the result of the boxers and their promoters coming to an agreement - not from the World Boxing Council issuing any threats or orders, its leader emphasized.
“I think it would be a great match again, a lot of money for the promoter. I don’t believe either boxer’s satisfied. If both want it, and all the promoters agree, why not?” WBC president Jose Sulaiman said. “But for me to raise a scandal, no. This was a great fight. All the world’s talking about it. Why destroy it with negative comments?”
Pascal retained his WBC light-heavyweight title with a 12-round controversial majority draw against Hopkins Saturday night at the Colisée Pepsi. Pascal scored two early knockdowns against Hopkins, but the former middleweight and light-heavyweight champion controlled the last half of the bout.
Hopkins’s promoter called the decision a travesty, said he was filing a protest with the WBC and suggested an immediate rematch would be ordered.
“This is the worst decision I’ve seen,” said Richard Schaefer, the chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions. “We’ll file a protest ... and see what other legal remedies we have, because this is wrong.
“I talked to Sulaiman. He feels, as well, this was highway robbery.”
Sulaiman said any discussions he conducted with Schaefer should have remained private, while intimating Schaefer had put words in his mouth. The WBC is comprised of governors who can vote for a rematch. But a majority is required before a rematch can occur.
“The WBC is not Jose Sulaiman,” he said. “I understand there were different opinions. This is boxing. I believe, for the clarity of everything, the best thing is a rematch. But the WBC won’t order a rematch.”
The problem, according to promoter Yvon Michel, is that Chad Dawson’s owed a rematch by Pascal, who scored an 11th-round technical decision against him last August; that bout ended on an accidental headbutt with Pascal leading on all three judges’ scorecards. Pascal and Dawson have signed contracts.
However, the rematch is conditional. A U.S. network, HBO or Showtime, must pay a licensing fee equal or better to what the promoter received last summer from HBO. Without that, Pascal and his promoter are under no obligation. And television likely now has more interest in Pascal against Hopkins than Pascal and Dawson.
“If Yvon Michel does that (supplanting Hopkins), they’re going to get stripped of their title,” Schaefer charged. “If necessary, we’ll use our vast financial resources to sue the WBC and the Canadian commission. I’m not going to stand here and take this.”
While Michel’s company is much smaller and doesn’t have the financial clout to battle Golden Boy Promotions, he said Schaefer’s threats were nothing more than bombastic fodder.
“I’m not going to panic,” he said. “To come out strong and say he’s going to sue, it’s blackmail. It’s not because they’re a big company they’re going to scare us.”
Schaefer and Hopkins said they have no interest in returning to Canada, although both are undoubtedly aware Montreal or Quebec are the only two sites the rematch would sell.
More than 16,000 spectators attended Saturday, although the card wasn’t sold out. Pascal earned a career-high purse of $1.5 million - $200,000 more than Hopkins.
“It was a close fight,” Michel said, “and it would have been a close call anywhere.”
Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sport...#ixzz18cd7t72S
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