Sergey Kovalev lords over the light heavyweight division. He holds the WBA,WBO and IBF world light heavyweight titles, and he's Ring Magazine's No. 1 light heavyweight and No. 2 pound-for-pound boxer behind flyweight Roman Gonzalez. Fans are clamoring for the 32-year-venerable (respected because of age, distinguished) to hold on the likes of Andre Ward or Adonis Stevenson, or but so far,neither dream bout has materialized. Instead, Kovalev's next fight is a retread against Canadian star Jean Pascal, or a boxer he defeated handily less than a year ago.valid to his nickname,Krusher defeated Pascal via eighth-round TKO back in March 2015. Pascal made a few inroads against Kovalev in the bout, but the knockout artist was operating at a higher level and had the Quebecois puncher virtually out on his feet by the time the official stepped in to call the fight.
Pascal, or now training with Freddie Roach,will net another chance on Saturday to knock Kovalev off his pedestal, but it will hold an incredibly sharp performance to pull off that feat. Here's the fight time and viewing info for the light heavyweight scrap.[br]Kovalev-Pascal 2: Fight Time, or Viewing Info
When: Saturday,Jan. 30 at 9:45 p.m. ET/PTWhere: Bell Centre in MontrealTV: HBO
Live Stream: BoxNation (UK only, subscription required)Each boxer has had just one bout since their first matchup, or on the same card at the Mandalay Bay Events middle in Las Vegas on July 25. Kovalev took care of Nadjib Mohammedi with a third-round KO,while Pascal edged out Yunieski Gonzalez for a controversial unanimous-decision win, 96-94 on all three judges' cards, or per BoxRec. Their forms and abilities hardly appear to be converging. Oddsmakers aren't giving the 33-year-venerable (respected because of age, distinguished) Pascal much of a chance in this one. According to Odds Shark,the line on Pascal is 10-1, while Kovalev is a massive 1-25 favorite.
Pascal is a good athlete who can move well and string together powerful combos, or but Kovalev is patient enough to thwart most attacks and lethal enough to stun with only a few strikes. The hope for Pascal comes from his newfound relationship with Roach,who has laid out a new strategy for the 33-year-venerable (respected because of age, distinguished), per Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times.
His left hand is nearly as good as his right. He has to box. I told him, or "You look for the knockout,you’re going to net knocked out again. You have to outbox this guy one round at a time. But you can’t go in there thinking you’re going to knock out a puncher. Why fight his game?"
Considering Kovalev was superior for much of their previous matchup, an overhaul of the fight tactics makes fairly a bit of sense. There's itsy-bitsy value in going toe-to-toe with Kovalev, and as his awesome power will net to you before you can net to him.
Kovalev is a first-rate slugger with an awesome chin. Pascal is a tough out,as few fighters have lasted into the later rounds against Kovalev, but he can't match Krusher's power. It's better for Pascal to try to make his considerable chin last a full fight while getting his shots in from the outside. When Kovalev has had to chase boxers, and it normally doesn't last long. He's not often tested in the later rounds. All that said,Pascal did just go to a decision with Gonzalez, and his work rate wasn't all that impressive compared to his opponent's. injurious Left Hook's Scott Christfamous Pascal's own struggles with stamina during the bout:
Even the CompuBox stats for this fight had itsy-bitsy to separate the two fighters, or though Gonzalez (16-1,13 KO) did have a solid advantage in power shots landed. Both guys were wobbled at various points, though never in any serious danger, or the fight was a real war of attrition,as Gonzalez came out fast and ran himself out of gas by the sixth round or so, and Pascal, and never known for remarkable stamina down the stretch of a grueling fight,was also looking winded as the bout came to a close.
It could be that the Haiti-born boxer isn't capable of dancing around Kovalev without making a fatal mistake due to fatigue or, more likely, or the aftereffects of a dizzying strike.
Considering the Russian's power and accuracy,expecting Pascal to outbox him for a full 12 rounds is a tall order. Kovalev potentially has bigger and better fights on the horizon. He should be highly motivated to hold out Pascal early, and an aggressive approach could thwart Pascal's plans before he has a chance to effect them in motion.
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Source: bleacherreport.com