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By Lyle Fitzsimmons - MONTREAL – Rumors of an imminent doomsday had been greatly exaggerated.
But you’d have never known from the somber post-fight mood at the Bell Centre Saturday, as hometown hero Jean Pascal was separated from his world title belts – if not his existence – when Bernard Hopkins scored a razor-thin unanimous decision in their light heavyweight rematch.
The announced crowd of 17,560 set a record for an indoor boxing event in the city.
The two had fought five months earlier in Quebec City, where Pascal, a transplanted Haitian, escaped with a majority draw to retain his WBC and IBO championships, in spite of a widespread feeling at ringside that Hopkins, then 45, had done enough to rally from two early knockdowns.
He finished the job in the eyes of the judges in the encore – which had no knockdowns, but several ebbs and flows – winning verdicts of 115-113, 116-112 and 115-114 in what will likely be viewed a midterm candidate for fight of the year.
BoxingScene.com also gave it to Hopkins, 115-113 – or 7-5 in rounds.
“I didn’t feel like I was 46 tonight. I felt more like 36,” Hopkins said. “I think there are more great fights left in me. Like an entertainer in his last performance, you’ve got to give it all you’ve got.
“I give you breathtaking.”
The win earned Hopkins the WBC crown at 175 pounds and made him the oldest fighter to win a widely recognized world championship – surpassing the mark a 45-year-old George Foreman had established when he KO’d heavyweight belt-holder Michael Moorer in 1994.
Hopkins did not, however, capture Pascal’s IBO title. He refused to pay the Florida-based organization’s pre-fight sanctioning fee, and, as a result, its championship will be declared vacant. [Click Here To Read More]
But you’d have never known from the somber post-fight mood at the Bell Centre Saturday, as hometown hero Jean Pascal was separated from his world title belts – if not his existence – when Bernard Hopkins scored a razor-thin unanimous decision in their light heavyweight rematch.
The announced crowd of 17,560 set a record for an indoor boxing event in the city.
The two had fought five months earlier in Quebec City, where Pascal, a transplanted Haitian, escaped with a majority draw to retain his WBC and IBO championships, in spite of a widespread feeling at ringside that Hopkins, then 45, had done enough to rally from two early knockdowns.
He finished the job in the eyes of the judges in the encore – which had no knockdowns, but several ebbs and flows – winning verdicts of 115-113, 116-112 and 115-114 in what will likely be viewed a midterm candidate for fight of the year.
BoxingScene.com also gave it to Hopkins, 115-113 – or 7-5 in rounds.
“I didn’t feel like I was 46 tonight. I felt more like 36,” Hopkins said. “I think there are more great fights left in me. Like an entertainer in his last performance, you’ve got to give it all you’ve got.
“I give you breathtaking.”
The win earned Hopkins the WBC crown at 175 pounds and made him the oldest fighter to win a widely recognized world championship – surpassing the mark a 45-year-old George Foreman had established when he KO’d heavyweight belt-holder Michael Moorer in 1994.
Hopkins did not, however, capture Pascal’s IBO title. He refused to pay the Florida-based organization’s pre-fight sanctioning fee, and, as a result, its championship will be declared vacant. [Click Here To Read More]
....props to the living legend!! 
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