MONTRÉAL - Former WBC light heavyweight champion of the world, the Montrealer Jean Pascal promised to his fans to win by KO in less than three rounds, but he has been obliged to work harder Saturday evening in the ring of Place Bell in Laval, a northern suburb of Montréal. Pascal beat the former UFC champion, the Montrealer Steve Bossé, by KO at the end of the eight round.

“I won (33-5-1) by KO like I wanted to do it, but I needed to work harder than expected to reach my goal,” said Pascal. “Bossé gave a great show. He fought intensively and courageously from the beginning to the end. But no doubt in my mind that my big experience in boxing made the difference in the result of this fight. Bossé attacked me many times in the fight, he hit me solidly, but I was patient, and I was attacking him at the right moments. In the eighth round, I could see he was seriously in trouble after that connected him with several power shots. My last hook send him the floor, and I knew at that moment that I was the winner.”

When a writer asked him if it was his last bout, Pascal smiled. “No. I want to stay active. With the performance I got tonight, I know I can win others bouts.”

Bossé (1-1-0) was clearly disappointed after the bout. “I gave a solid opposition to Pascal, but he surprised me in the eighth round with this powerful left hook that I did not see come,” said Bossé. “But I think that I proved tonight that I can fight in boxing, not only in the UFC. I am proud of my performance, but very disappointed by the result.”
 

Bossé dominated the first round with his intense attacks. He connected his power shots at the right time.

The second round was a spectacular one, each fighter got solid charges.

In the third round, Pascal provoked a knockdown with a great left hook on the chin. And he gave a hard time to Bossé during the last minute of the round in attacking intensively.

Pascal attacked furiously in the fourth round, and he placed Bossé in serious trouble. But Bossé found the way to resist to all theses intense charges.

In the fifth round, Bossé attacked intensively, but Pascal finished the round with a charge with both hands.

The sixth and seventh rounds were spectaculars, each fighter having his great moments offensively. Clearly, the two fighters were looking for a KO.

In the eighth round, Pascal provoked a second knockdown with a left hook, and Bossé got problems to get back on his legs. The referee Mike Griffin intervened to declare Bossé TKO.

Marie-Eve Dicaire Wins Again

Just before the main event, the Montrealer Marie-Eve Dicaire increased her chances to dispute a female world championship bout, in beating the Californian Alejandra Ayala by unanimous decision in 10 rounds.

It was a rematch.

Dicaire is ranked second contender by the WBC and the WBA in the super welterweight division.

She was the aggressor in every rounds. She dominated the action from the beginning to the end with her speed, intensity and precision.

The three judges scored the fight 100-90 for the Montrealer.

The middleweight Jordan Balmir, from Drummondville, Québec, improved in his pro record to 10-0-0 with a victory by KO in the second round over the German-Italian Vito Vandetta.

Balmir sent his opponent on the canvas in the second round with a solid hook on the chin. Vandetta has been unable to get back on his legs before the count of 10, losing automatically by KO.

The cruiserweight Yan Pellerin, from Granby, Québec, suffered of his first defeat in pro boxing (2-1-0), losing by unanimous decision in four rounds against the Mexican Fernando Galvan (3-1-0).

The fight was intense, but Galvan connected more punches than his rival in the last three rounds.

The Montrealer middleweight Jean-Michel Bolivar (4-1-0) provoked two knockdowns in the second round, another one in the third round, and he beat Michael Cyr (1-1-0), from Saint-David, Québec, by TKO.

After the third knockdown, the referee intervened to declare Cyr TKO in the second minute of this third round.

Aggressive, Cyr tried very hard to win this fight, but the Bolivar’s power punches were hurting him constantly.

The Montrealer lightweight Roody Pierre-Paul failed to score the 17th win of his pro boxing career. He lost by majority decision of the judges in six rounds against the veteran Romanian Oszkar Fiko (32-25-1).

A judge scored the bout 57-57, the two others gave the decision to Fiko by four points.

The fight was not very spectacular, because the very high number of clinches.

Pierre-Paul (16-4-2) finished the bout with a severe cut over the right eye.

In the opening bout of the evening, the Montrealer lightweight Whitney Baillé stayed undefeated in seven pro bouts (7-0-0) with a win by unanimous decision in six rounds over the Mexican Victor Hugo Lorenzo (9-4-0).

Very tall with a long reach, Baillé was facing a very short opponent with a short reach. Baillé connected a lot a body and head shots, but Lorenzo was persistent and courageous in every rounds.

The three judges got the same score: 60-54 for the Montrealer.

In the only UFC fight of the evening, the Montrealer Russian Yoni Sherbatov, a flyweight, won by unanimous decision over the Mexican Luis Solotzano.