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Sergey Kovalev destroys Jean Pascal, admits he wanted to punish him

Fighters Network
30
Jan
Sergey Kovalev of Russia (center) with his mother and with former NHL player Alexei Kovalev following his second win over Jean Pascal at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.  Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

Sergey Kovalev of Russia (center) with his mother and with former NHL player Alexei Kovalev following his second win over Jean Pascal at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images

It was a slow, methodical, chilling beat-down.

Sergey Kovalev punished Jean Pascal for seven rounds, unleashing a torrent of punches as payback after Pascal had hurled accusations that Kovalev was racist in the pre-fight buildup.

Pascal’s trainer, Freddie Roach, stopped the fight after the seventh round after Pascal absorbed a frightful beating Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Kovalev retained his three light heavyweight titles before an announced crowd of 9,866 in a rematch of their March fight, also won by Kovalev.



Kovalev admitted afterward he wanted to punish Pascal.

“This was personal,” Kovalev said in the ring afterward. “Yes I would fight more rounds and punish him more … I don’t respect him at all. And never [will]. He’s not an excuse for a man. I punish a no good person and everyone understands.

“Hey, he didn’t get past the seventh round. He lost the bet, $50,000 (referring to an alleged pre-fight wager that Pascal wouldn’t make it past Round 8).”

After the fight, WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson rushed at Kovalev in the ring and had to be “restrained” in what seemed like choreographed, stage-managed behavior.

The win allows Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 knockouts) to move one step closer to facing former super middleweight kingpin Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs). The two have reportedly signed to fight in November on HBO Pay-Per-View, provided Ward wins his fight on March 26.

The fight on Saturday wasn’t competitive from the opening bell.

Kovalev seemed to knock Pascal down with a jab in the first but the referee, Michael Griffin, ruled it a slip. Pascal responded moments later by landing a left hook. A replay on HBO showed that it was a clean knockdown: Kovalev landed a sharp jab after Pascal landed his and Pascal collapsed.

Kovalev casually stalked Pascal in the second, landing jabs and chopping overhand rights that seemed to skid off the top of Pascal’s head.

Both fighters went to the canvas in the third after awkwardly clinching.

Pascal’s legs looked unsteady in the third, though he did land a solid left in the final minute of the round. The two traded punches to end the third after Kovalev had dominated most of it.

Pascal stopped punching for most of the fourth as Kovalev landed his full arsenal of punches. Pascal was in full retreat. Bernard Hopkins described Kovalev’s onslaught as “torture” on the HBO commentary.

Kovalev staggered Pascal with a right in the fifth as Pascal sagged against the ropes, nearly going down. Kovalev looked to be punishing Pascal, patiently stalking and landing sweeping rights and lefts as Pascal skittered away. The referee could have stopped the fight at any point in the fifth and few would have argued.

Roach nearly stopped the fight after the sixth; he actually instructed the referee to keep an eye on Pascal if he absorbed too much punishment in the seventh. But he ended up taking matters into his own hands.

Pascal (30-4-1, 17 KOs) accused Kovalev of being racist in the run-up to fight and nearly came to blows with Kovalev trainer John David Jackson at the final press conference on Wednesday after he gave Jackson a banana and ridiculed him for working for a fighter who didn’t respect him because of his skin color. Jackson defended Kovalev as not racist.

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