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Cloutier's Canada Corner
Yvon Michel: "When Pascal Is The Underdog,
That's When He Is The Most Dangerous"
By Daniel Cloutier
MONTRÉAL - According the promoter of the GYM Group, Yvon
Michel, the WBO, WBA and IBF light heavyweight champion of
the world, the Russian Sergey Kovalev, got to take the
Montrealer Jean Pascal very seriously.
Kovalev (25-0-1) will defend his three titles against Pascal
(29-2-1) March 14th at Bell Centre.
Pascal is right when he is saying it will be the most
significant bout of the Canadian pro boxing (involving a
Canadian boxer. The most prestigious fight presented in
Canada was the first match up between Sugar Ray Leonard and
Roberto Duran June 20th 1980 at Olympic Stadium in
Montréal).
"Pascal knows he is the underdog, and in this situation, he
is always more dangerous, more performing, said Yvon Michel,
the former Pascal’s promoter. He was the underdog when he
fought twice Adrian Diaconu in 2009, and twice, he fought
very well and won. He was the underdog when he faced Chad
Dawson in 2010, and he won. When Pascal feels the pressure
is on the opponent’s shoulders, his attacks are more
frequents and more intense. In these circumstances, I am
expecting an exciting fight. Almost everybody believes that
Kovalev gonna win, but a Pascal underdog can always cause a
surprise. Don’t forget that Kovalev has probably never
fought a boxer so fast and so crafty in pro boxing. I am
very impatient to assist to this fight. And the fans too.
Apparently, the sell of the tickets at Bell Centre are going
very well actually."
At his last bout, a year ago (January 18th) at Bell Centre,
Pascal won by unanimous decision against the Montrealer
Romanian Lucian Bute (31-2-0) in a NABF North American
championship. The odds were… even.
On his side, Kovalev, who was WBO 175 pounds champion of the
world last October, became WBO, WBA and IBF champion of the
world November 8th at the Boardwalk Arena in Atlantic City,
in beating the veteran Bernard Hopkins (55-7-2) by unanimous
decision (12 rounds to nothing). All is indicative that the
winner of the bout Pascal-Kovalev will face the WBC champion
of the world, the Montrealer southpaw Adonis Stevenson
(25-1-0), next September at the new Québec City Colisée.
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